Autonomy
by Heat in Freezing
Summary: The war is over. After over thirty years in the armed services, John retires to the outer colonies with a newly human Cortana. John must learn how to live as a man instead of simply a Spartan, all he has ever known how to be. AU and human!Cortana.
1. Chapter 1

This story is obviously 100% AU. I don't want to write a story predicting what the rest of the Reclaimer saga is going to be because 343 is going to do that much better than I ever could. This story is going to focus on character analysis and relationships. I am currently in the military, so any criticisms or information I use is from my own personal experience. I have read many of the novels and draw a lot from those, particularly elements of John's character and his relationships with other people. I genuinely am not interested in explaining the exact HOW of Cortana becoming human because she doesn't really know either and I feel like it's kind of arbitrary. I figure that's kind of the fun in having an AU. Haha! I hope you all enjoy, gets off to a bit of a slow start but I've got quite a bit more written. (as in, like 60,000 words. Oops, maybe I should've been doing homework. Or not.) Love to hear some reviews, I always respond but I'm not going to withhold content or anything silly like that, I write this for fun and because it makes me happy, I love this universe and I love this pairing. It's also posted on my AO3 account.

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Cortana looked out the window at the seemingly endless fields they lived amongst. She couldn't see much in the distance but John told her he could see the city nearby. The colony they lived on was one of the farthest away from Earth. Because of this, it wasn't overly populous. It was relatively easy to hide and left properties with open spaces more crowded planets could never afford.

She ran her hand along the windowsill and reflected upon the past year and a half. A year ago they had completed this home. Since then they'd hardly seen another soul and Cortana couldn't help but feel happier than she ever had. It honestly wasn't all that different from their time on the Halo campaign in many ways. It was without a doubt much quieter, but even then it had just been her and John. She knew that there were people out on the rest of the planet, but John really had no concern or desire to seek them out. The few times they had left for something they couldn't have delivered he had been very tense.

She saw John walk to a small outbuilding they'd built carrying what looked to be a large tree trunk over his shoulder with little exertion. She smiled, put on her shoes and went outside.

"What do you plan on doing with that?" she laughed. He dropped the tree on the ground with little caution and crossed his arms.

"I've never slept in a bed big enough for me, I figured now is just as good of a time as any to make one," his tone was rather matter-of-fact. Cortana knew she usually couldn't discern much from the tone of his voice but rather how he moved and his facial expressions. She hadn't realized everything she'd been missing with his face obscured by a visor and his whole body covered in armor. The first month or so of them living together she couldn't stop simply staring at him, almost meeting him all over again. Yes, she had spent a large part of her life existing in his mind and she could still recite his service record verbatim but nothing compared to seeing the crows feet around his eyes, the few and far in between smiles and seeing the years melt away while he worked outside.

He was still very pale but not as ghostly as he was most of his life. He didn't grow his hair out by any means but it was longer than it had been since his service. He shaved whenever he felt like it, usually letting a few days of stubble grow. He had a large scar that started on his chin that went up to his left cheek where hair wouldn't grow and a similar scar through his right eyebrow.

"Can I help?" she smiled.

"Sure, open the shop door and help me check out tools."

John insisted on keeping accurate records of the tools they had amassed for his growing woodworking hobby. Cortana found herself surprised at how much he seemed to enjoy relatively normal tasks-she supposed that perhaps he had enough of excitement.

She turned on the lights and opened up the large shop door. John hefted the tree and set it down on his large work table. Seeing him accomplish such ridiculous physical feats should've seemed odd to her but Cortana really hadn't had much contact with other humans in a while. Even though somewhere in her mind she knew he was nothing short of extraordinary, he was her normal, her standard by which she measured everything. She even had to remind herself that not being able to keep up with him running or in feats of strength was more normal even though her competitive nature told her otherwise.

As he worked, Cortana mostly watched even though she'd hand him a tool here and there. She couldn't help but think about how freeing it was to be able to just exist-she didn't have to constantly process or calibrate information she observed, she could just see it and take it for what it was. As an AI, she would've been compelled to process the angles at which he cut wood, the rounds per minute of the buzzsaw and the exact origins and type of tree he was using.

In a few hours John had fashioned a rustic, sturdy, enormous frame. She and John worked on staining it a dark brown and opened the windows to let the fumes escape. She crossed her arms and admired their work.

"So I suppose we're going to have to go into town to get a mattress for this thing,"

John frowned immediately.

"We could order something and it'd be here in an hour but we just ordered in kitchen appliances and I know you don't want to draw too much attention,"

After John was discharged from the UNSC, he had felt lost and very wary. After effectively ending two wars and saving the entire universe multiple times over, he couldn't help but feel empty and abandoned by the only life he had ever known.

He went as far away as he could from anyone or anything making it very difficult for anyone to find him. He dreamt of fading into obscurity instead of being the savior of the human race. He didn't want anything from the UNSC and as far as Cortana was concerned the UNSC owed John the dignity of a quiet, remote life. John wouldn't voice his opinions as loudly but Cortana could see it in the measures he took to remain hidden. John hated the attention of going into town so he seldom did.

"And unfortunately I can't carry a mattress by myself and if you go by yourself and run home six miles with a mattress it'll seem a little ridiculous so I think you're stuck coming with me."

"Fine," John took out his tablet and made note of the bed frame dimensions while Cortana cleaned up the mess they made building the frame.

John drove quickly. Cortana could tell he was on edge and wanted to get this process done as quickly as possible.

John parked the vehicle roughly in the back of the parking lot. He wore sunglasses to try and hide his distinctive eyes. Cortana thought it was a little pointless because he was almost seven feet tall but she didn't really care if it made him more comfortable.

They walked into the mall complex-it was small for the standards of other planets but it still had plenty of things. It was relatively crowded for the time of day. They reached the interface that would allow them to customize a mattress. Cortana sifted through the hologram looking at various choices and specifications. She felt pretty amazed at the amount of variations that existed on a mattress.

"What do you want in a mattress?"

"For my feet to not hang off and for the frame to not break."

Cortana rolled her eyes.

"Hi, welcome to our furniture emporium, can I help you two decide anything?" The associate was well dressed and seemed like a nice-enough twenty-some year old man.

"Sure," Cortana smiled. She handled situations like this well, she actually liked talking to people despite living in the middle of nowhere. "As you can see, my…" she paused. It wasn't a big deal to live together and be unmarried but she couldn't think of a word that described their relationship. "We are looking for a bed that he can sleep," she rephrased, "He is rather tall, John could you hand me the tablet,"

Cortana looked up at him and he didn't really seem phased by her referring to him as her husband. He produced their tablet and Cortana leaned over to show the associate. "You see, we need these measurements."

He looked at the specifications and nodded. "Okay, that's entirely doable. Do you know what you want for firmness?"

"Not really," Cortana shrugged.

"How do you both sleep?"

"I sleep on my side," Cortana answered quickly. She looked at John.

Without looking down or making eye contact he spoke, "I sleep on my back," he said effectively to the air above the associate's head. Cortana held back a sigh. She could tell he was oddly nervous about this excursion out, he hated attention. He wasn't really what she'd call shy but he was a man of concision; if he could say something in a few direct words he would.

The associate proceeded to make a bunch of recommendations until they chose something agreeable.

"Should be ready in an hour, help yourself to refreshments in our waiting area,"

John stood perfectly still and looked straight ahead. It made Cortana feel fidgety. She ran her hand down his arm and grabbed his hand.

"What's wrong? It's all fine," she traced the outline of his palm with her fingertips in a way she knew he found comforting.

"I just have a weird feeling."

Cortana frowned. John's feelings were always grounded in some reason. His instinct was almost always correct.

"Bad weird?"

"No," he paused. "Just weird weird."

"Chief,"

Cortana almost saw it happen in slow motion. John stiffened and turned to see a tall, well dressed woman. Her brown hair was pulled back in a loose braid that draped over her right shoulder. Her most prominent feature was her large, wide-set spartan blue-green eyes.

Cortana could tell John was shocked which was really saying something-very few things surprised him. Cortana looked at the woman once more and picked her brain. Before Cortana could place exactly who she was, John spoke.

"...Kelly," he spoke quietly. Well, that must've been John's weird feeling.

Cortana watched as Kelly reacted very oddly to John's presence. She looked like she was on the verge of tears and laughter all in one, an odd expression on a Spartan's face. In three long strides she made her way to John just stared at him.

Kelly pulled away and looked John square in the face, she took off his glasses and looked directly into his eyes. Kelly shed a tear when she found whatever she was looking for.

"It really is you, I thought…" she paused and wiped at her eyes, her lip quivered. "I don't know what I thought, but I didn't think that you'd be here of all places." She took a deep breath and quickly composed herself. "You have to come to my house."

Cortana was feeling a little ignored at this point. John looked at her, clearly wanting her thoughts. Kelly glanced at her and noticed her for the first time.

"Who is-"

"Later," Cortana spoke, smiling at the other woman. "We'll come over after we're done here. Put the coordinates of your home here," Cortana handed her a tablet.

Kelly handed John the tablet after putting in the location.

"Alright, your mattress is on a hovercart near the front of the store," the associate paused. He looked from John to Kelly and back again. "Oh is this your sister?" Kelly tensed up a little bit.

John answered without hesitation. "Yes. Yes she is."


	2. Chapter 2

John was silent for most the the trip to Kelly's home. Cortana couldn't really get a read on what he was feeling. They pulled into the drive near the home-it was much larger than their abode. John turned off the vehicle but didn't look like he was about to move.

"What's on your mind?" Cortana had found that simply asking was usually the most productive option.

John looked down and ran his hands over his knees, a nervous habit he'd acquired.

"I don't know what this kind of situation this is. I never could've seen myself acting in such a social way with other people, let alone us Spartans. I don't know what to expect from her and how much she's changed. I don't know what normal is anymore."

"Normal is always changing, whatever this is will become the new normal. That being said, you have to leave some room for those adjustments. I'm sure a lot has changed for her too." "I don't know what normal ever has been," he said quietly.

Cortana frowned slightly. She knew that he had very few memories from before he was conscripted into the Spartan program. He had confessed one night he didn't even remember his birth mother's face, only her voice. He had no memories of a father, perhaps he had been a military man who was deployed for most of the insurrection.

John never lamented these things, Cortana knew that it genuinely didn't bother him. It bothered her because she knew. Knowing his past was what had initially made her so fiercely swear to protect him at any cost.

Cortana rested a hand on John's shoulder. "This is a new part of our lives and we both have a lot of new normals to find I mean, I didn't have a body until a little bit ago, and you'd been in the military since you were six. We're making adjustments, I think we can handle dinner."

John sighed and smiled the tiniest bit-Cortana only noticed because she was used to reading his subtle facial expressions. "You always know what to say."

Her face lit up, she smiled and leaned over, kissing him softly on the cheek. "Of course I do, now let's go!" She hopped out of the car excitedly. She couldn't help but be excited at the notion of social interaction like this.

Kelly opened the door and invited them in, Cortana could tell simply by her body language how excited she was though she doubted most people would see it that way. She bounced a little when she walked. She didn't look younger than John but she had a distinctive energy about her Cortana couldn't help but notice.

The home was not at all what Cortana expected. The walls were painted calming greys of varying shades, the lightest being close to white and some being closer to a steely blue. What shocked her was what had to be nearly fifty framed photos all over the entryway and leading to what seemed to be a dining area and sitting room.

Cortana looked up at the pictures. The vantage point for every single one was surreal and strange, the focuses of each picture were strange but poetic in some sense-an explosion that focused on individual grains of sand, a single flag flapping in the wind atop a hill, dog tags of fallen soldiers.

John paused and saw a photo of a firefight where a worse-for the wear Spartan pointed forward and shot as if indicating an order. Before John could stop himself he touched the photograph, his hand running over the Spartan tag 117 emblazoned on the armor of the pointing Spartan.

"How is this-"

"I took them," a quiet voice spoke. John's eyes widened slightly.

"Fred?"

Cortana eyed the other Spartan. He looked oddly normal in comparison to John and Kelly. His hair was streaked grey which looked odd for how young he appeared otherwise. The years had been a little kinder to him than they were to John. He could probably even blend in with a crowd.

Kelly smiled her soft, serene smile. "Please sit," she gestured to the overly large sofa.

The four of them all sat. Cortana could feel their Spartan eyes all over her asking all the questions she knew they were thinking. Cortana started to feel a little awkward about all of the tension in the room.

Fred sighed. "I don't even know where to begin."

"This is….a lot." agreed Kelly.

"Well why don't we start," Cortana ignored the relatively somber atmosphere. She could tell John was on edge by the tension he held in his shoulders.

"Who is she, what does she know?" Kelly asked, very obviously directing her question at John. Cortana crossed her arms and huffed. John couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Oh I'm just some random female he picked up the minute he hit the ground on this planet on the fringe of the galaxy, it's so weird how tall all you guys are, John, you've never told me about any family you might have, are you related?" Cortana rolled her eyes. The two Spartans in front of her seemed very confused by her remarks, she couldn't tell if the sarcasm was lost on them and they actually believed her story or if they were just not used to someone as obnoxious as she.

"She does that sometimes," Cortana could hear his smile in his voice. "This is Cortana, she knows everything and more, she was my AI."

Fred's eyes widened. "How is such a thing possible?"

"It's very complicated but possible." Cortana sighed, she didn't quite understand the mechanics of what had happened to her after Requiem.

"Cortana sacrificed herself for me near the end of my career." John looked down. "After the events of New Phoenix, I was broken in a way that I'd never been before. In my grief I went AWOL to try and make sense of Cortana's death. Afterwards I was retired."

Cortana reached over and grabbed John's hand.

Kelly and Fred looked shocked. "I had heard the rumors but I didn't know if they could possibly be true. I would've never...It doesn't make sense." murmured Kelly.

Cortana shrugged a little. "Things like love seldom make sense."

"Love…" Fred sighed and Kelly crossed her legs a little awkwardly.

"Around the time you must've retired, Fred and myself were told that remaining Spartan-IIs would be retired and given compensation along with a pension by order of Admiral Osman."

"As an officer, I found that the Spartan-II program was considered a blemish on the UNSC, a terrible reminder of decisions made in desperate times and action was being taken render a different image. With Admiral Osman, who is actually Serin-019, heading ONI, she wanted us effectively out of the force."

John's eyes widened a little. "Serin…" he trailed off, remembering his fellow Spartan who had appeared to die from augmentation procedures, at least according to his memory. Then again, he couldn't recall her being memorialized at the ceremony they'd had either.

"So, Kelly and myself were served papers. She was discharged the day before me, the day I was discharged we got married."

Kelly handed a picture to John and Cortana. They were clearly on Earth, it looked as if nothing had been spared in military fanfare. Kelly wore a white, knee length sheath dress and Fred a black suit and jacket. Neither were smiling, but there was a softness to each of them that seemed happy.

Kelly laughed a little, "That was the first time I ever wore a dress."

"It was highly publicized, broadcast and mandatory viewing for all UNSC personnel. It was meant to be something that kind of closed the book on the Spartan-II program, they…" Kelly reached under the table and grabbed a photo album and handed it to John. "They released all of these photos to make the program more transparent."

John flipped through the book and saw pictures of things he hardly remembered. There were pictures of all seventy-five of them with freshly shaven heads, a picture of a little boy Spartan sleeping on his cot sucking his thumb, a boy who, after a moment, he recognized as himself. A picture of them lined up at fourteen for augmentations. Obstacle courses with children, weapons training at ten, the barracks they slept in. A picture of all of them with Chief Mendez, no smiles and stern. Even pictures of them learning calculus from Deja.

"Here's my favorite," Kelly flipped to a picture. Three children eating together, sitting on the ground, faces dirty and boots caked in mud. It was John, Kelly and Sam at what must've been eight years old. Kelly had an almost comical frown on her face, her hair in front of her, Sam was clearly telling a story of some sort. John neither frowned or smiled, he was looking off into the distance.

"Always so serious," Cortana smiled a little. John touched Sam's face as if he could somehow connect to him through the photo.

"Could I have a copy of this?"

"Take that one, I have another." she spoke quietly, her voice a little pained.

"So after we were discharged we were placed here. It's remote and quiet, something we both wanted."

"What made you decide to get married?" John questioned. It seemed odd to him, his relationship with Cortana was unlike anything he'd ever experienced but marriage was a concept difficult for him to imagine.

Fred and Kelly looked away from each other.

"When we filled out paperwork for where we wanted to be placed, we only requested to be placed together. After everything, I couldn't imagine being alone without other Spartans. It was hard to fit in with the new Spartan-IVs, I felt somewhat outdated and excluded even when they tried to include me. I couldn't imagine being alone." Cortana felt badly for her, her worst fear was also loneliness. Her years on the Dawn were some of the darkest in her life. She had spent it thinking herself into madness and hating John while simultaneously loving him. It had been excruciating. The loneliness could consume someone.

"They told us they couldn't guarantee our placement together unless we were married so it was the clear choice to make." Fred spoke with a stiffness that was a little strange. Even though they were a little more talkative than John was, Cortana could tell that affection was awkward and difficult between the two of them.

"What is...what's love? How can you tell?" Kelly spoke directly but quietly looking to John.

Cortana looked at him and saw a small flush rising up his neck.

"I think it's different for everyone Kelly," Cortana answered evenly. "There aren't really rules or a checklist."

"We have dealt with much loss in our lives, that is the life of the soldier. Some losses felt debilitating," he remembered Kelly's tears when Sam had died, his anger, determination and the raw pain he had experienced.

"But when I lost Cortana I was completely broken. I tried to rationalize it; what had happened made our mission succeed and she had fulfilled her primary objective, she had sacrificed herself the same way Sam had and it was noble, it was what she wanted," he looked at Cortana, her short dark hair and pale skin, the slight freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose.

"It didn't work. I couldn't make sense of it. My life had lost any meaning, everything around me was wrong. I was separated from all of the Spartans for years following Reach but I had always had her. I was never lonely because of her. She existed as part of me and myself a part of her. I had experienced love before, love for my Spartan brothers and sisters, love of humanity and gratitude towards Catherine," John seldom spoke at length in this manner and Cortana couldn't help but feel pained by his expression as he recalled his time without her. "But losing her ruined me. Losing her taught me everything."

Fred and Kelly looked at each other, clearly analyzing their feelings and relationship in that moment. Cortana felt a little uncomfortable. She assumed they had a hard time dealing with seemingly mundane things like feelings-John had for the longest time until Requiem seemed to change everything.

"Thank you for sharing with us John." Kelly smiled softly at him. "That helps. We are glad you're happy and that civilian life suits you as much as it seems to. I never would've expected that out of all of us you'd do so well civilian side."

Fred's expression softened a little bit. "What do you do to fill your time?"

"John and I live a bit out of town, we try to make as many things we can. It's been an adjustment because I had never owned anything and anything John had was given to him by the UNSC. I like to garden and sit in the sunlight because eating and even feeling the wind in my hair is magical to me." She ran her hands over the soft fabric of the couch just thinking about the sensation.

"I like making things and reading things. I've never been able to read for leisure and learn anything I could ever want. I like working with wood." He leaned into the couch the slightest bit, finally relaxing into the conversation a little bit.

"What are you two doing here in the outer colonies?" questioned Cortana politely.

"I actually teach at a primary school. I coach the high school track team and distance running team. I'm not nearly as fast as I was because I injured a calf muscle but obviously I'm still the fastest. Don't show the kids that though." She laughed. "I feel comfortable around children because they accept that I'm just the way I am, they ask questions and I answer them and we move on. It's simple and nice."

"I take photos. When the UNSC declassified a lot of information about the Spartan-II program, a museum on Earth called and asked to display my photos in a series. I enjoy the idea of seeing a moment in time displayed how I saw it and that is what my work has become for me. It brings me fulfillment."

"They are amazing photos for sure," Cortana praised. They were poignant and Cortana could tell they really displayed a specific viewpoint, a Spartan viewpoint. "I love the one you took of John."

"Take it home with you, please, a gift." he smiled a little.

They continued to talk into the night, only pausing for Fred to get up for food and drinks. John had been happy living with just Cortana-she was all he truly needed, but the happiness he felt seeing Kelly and Fred alive and doing as well as they could be fulfilled him in some way. They were his family, his brother and sister and they only brought light into his life.

Kelly sipped on a glass of wine, flushing a little bit as it warmed her up.

"So I was on a mission with a Spartan-IV fireteam," Fred chuckled a little bit already knowing where the story was going. "And I'm telling you, John they are so loud. They think they're quiet but they're just very chatty. So this male who thinks he's a real hotshot and must be at least ten years younger than me is chatting while we walk through the jungles of Victoria, not a very pleasant place. I didn't realize it initially, but he was hitting on me this entire mission, something I'd never really experienced." She looked down, slightly demure as if the memory still embarrassed her.

"Talking, joking making wisecracks, he even made a joke about how tall I was which was...strange. He didn't noticed when an Elite walked up right behind him, nearly sliced him in two with a plasma sword until I rushed him, took the sword and sliced the Sanghelli in half." She started laughing in earnest. "I would've paid to see his face under his HUD, he didn't talk to me for the rest of the mission, I don't know if he was embarrassed or intimidated but it was ridiculous."

"The Spartan branch has a lot of self. It's made largely of ODSTs who at times lack discipline and professionalism necessary for many situations. As a commanding officer in the last five years of my career I served more letters of reprimand than I ever could've thought possible. We were so different from them," Fred sighed. "That being said, everyone chose to be a Spartan and there is merit in that. There is spirit in many of them that can be admirable and sometimes I would feel envious at their ability to serve the UNSC and themselves."

Cortana could once again feel tension in the air. John very seldom spoke of his feelings. Cortana didn't really know how he felt about the Spartan program as a whole and never really asked him.

After a small moment of silence, Kelly spoke up.

"We didn't choose the life we had, but we were chosen to protect mankind. To serve and protect Earth and her colonies in the capacity we did is something people could only dream of. As difficult as this civilian life may be, adjusting to a life of normalcy, I am happy. Some days are hard, sometimes I don't know what to do with myself. But this is the life I have been given. Many others are gone and it would be shameful to not live the life I still have." She spoke with her chin high, her eyes strong and unrelenting.

Cortana couldn't help but think of a Queen when she looked at the noble female Spartan. Over the years she would never fail to remember just how amazing the Spartans were, their ideals and strength embodied the qualities that made Cortana fall in love with humanity. The ironic part was it was hard for them to accept their place in humanity among others, the way John avoided seeing another living soul besides herself-she wouldn't use the word afraid, but he was very anxious.

"That begs the question though, what do you want from this life? The rest of it, that is." Cortana asked.

Kelly looked to Fred, a flush spreading over her face.

"It's complicated." Fred spoke quietly. John seemed to not mind moving on from the subject but Cortana was too overtaken by her curious nature.

"Try me, I don't usually have trouble with complex things." She smiled.

Fred and Kelly looked to one another and Kelly sighed.

"We very much would like to have a child," she said quietly. It sounded like she felt guilty wanting such a thing, like it was something taboo or shameful.

John felt uncomfortable. He'd never thought of the idea of children, he'd hardly come into contact with children and he couldn't imagine a life being a father. He also found it strange that it was something Kelly and Fred so clearly desired, the thought never really had crossed his mind.

Cortana smiled. "Well that's great, if that's what would make you happy you should!"

Fred and Kelly stared at her, clearly confused and honestly the closest she'd seen to irritated the whole evening. Clearly she was missing something.

"It's hard for us to…." Kelly trailed off, Fred turned away. Cortana started to fill in the blanks.

"In all honesty, as much as we would like a child, we never really want to have sex, we've tried once and it wasn't...It didn't…" Fred clearly stumbling over his words, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Kelly looked from Cortana to John. "Surely you understand,"

John ran a hand through his hair, a little flustered.

Cortana felt herself get warm. No, no problems there. She recalled evenings of fevered touches, panting breath and ardently whispered declarations. He was intensely physical and Cortana never felt more alive than when she was wrapped up in him, never more safe. Touch was everything to her.

"Actually, not really." Cortana spoke quietly. She saw a clear sting of hurt run across the faces of Kelly and Fred.

"So it's just us…" Kelly said. She looked close to tears.

"No, it isn't, I have a theory on this actually." Cortana spoke quickly. "John would be the same as you two due to the thyroid implant you all received to increase your muscle mass, height and essentially extend your puberty. However, when John was on Requiem," Cortana proceeded to describe the events that John had undergone with the Librarian. "So while we don't know exactly what happened with the Librarian, his genetic makeup changed entirely. I theorize that his augmentations and changes were made a part of his genetic code as opposed to things that augmented him physically. This alleviated some of the side-effects of the augmentation procedures, theoretically."

Cortana had never really spoken to John about this but their physical relationship was really what made her start to think about it.

"It is true that everything changed for me after Requiem. I gradually felt a change and it would make sense with what Cortana hypothesizes." John spoke quietly but also in what Cortana perceived as a comforting manner, trying to tell Kelly and Fred it wasn't all on them.

"That is a little comforting but it still leaves us with no solution," Kelly spoke softly.

"I think there is help that can be offered to you. You may not know this even though it was the worst kept secret in the UNSC but my origins lie with Dr. Halsey. My processing matrix came from a flash clone of her brain. When I was created, I processed the entirety of human knowledge in the first few seconds of my existence. Needless to say, I know a thing or two. There is definitely science that can help you. Humans have hormonal imbalances all the time, even normal ones that aren't Spartans. I bet you could go to a doctor or specialist right here in Lamnda Aurige System to help you. This is a rather human problem and nothing to feel shameful about, both of you have confronted much worse. This just seems harder because you are perceiving it as a problem with yourselves individually instead of an obstacle to simply overcome."

Fred's face seemed to soften slightly. "I don't know why the thought never occurred to us. I've just never had to deal with such a personal failure."

"It's perfectly logical, as a Spartan your body has been your tool and is considered the height of perfection-for you to be incapable of a physical task seems wrong and disturbing. For me, having a body capable of doing anything was amazing but not being able to process all of the information I once was able to was hard to deal with. I worried irrational things-that John wouldn't want me any longer since I wasn't as useful to him, that I would feel stupid or grow restless, but all of these concerns ended up being irrational. And I can speak for myself and John that you both don't have to feel isolated or alone, you can talk to the both of us. I'm no Spartan but for years I lived primarily inside of John's consciousness, some things I do I wonder if it's me or him, and I'm sure he feels similarly about me," she laughed a little bit thinking it might annoy him a little. "But the fact of the matter is you have us and we have you now." Cortana reached forward to grab the hands of both Kelly and Fred and smiled at them, ignoring their slight jump at her casual physical contact.

Kelly's eyes softened and the nicest, most gentle smile appeared on her face. "I can understand why you did what you did for her."

Cortana knew that in a word she would describe Kelly and Fred as kind. They were good people. She smiled and looked to John. John nodded. "I would do it again. Whatever it took."

Cortana smiled and grabbed his hand tightly. "You sure know how to make a girl smile." Of course that was an understatement. He made her glow, made her crazy and sane all in a moment. The entirety of her existence pointed to him. She chose him and he had later chosen her.

They talked until the sun had set. The Spartans showed no real sign of fatigue but Cortana yawned loudly.

"It's been a long day, even though it's not that late, and we still have that mattress to carry in." Cortana stretched her arms over her head in a stretch.

"My team has a track meet tomorrow, it's the last of the academic year. You should come, it's amazing how children thrive in these times of peace." Kelly invited.

Cortana stood along with John moving towards the door. "We will come, are you at the big track downtown?" Kelly grabbed John's tablet and wrote down a time date and coordinates.

Cortana looked at John and she could tell he felt a little uneasy. "It'll be fine, Kelly's twin brother just moved to the system and wanted to see the meet," Cortana stated. Fred smiled.

"An entirely plausible scenario," agreed Kelly. Cortana looked between the two of them. She could see it, even discounting their distinctly Spartan features-they both had a similar shade of brown hair, though John's was a little more reddish, and strong features with fair, slightly freckled skin. Most people didn't stare at scars considering many people who'd served in the UNSC had similar scars and Kelly and John didn't have any very severe facial scarring.

"I will be there with Cortana tomorrow." Cortana smiled knowing he wouldn't say that if he didn't mean it.

They drove home in silence, their tiny, sleepy home visible in the light from the two moons that orbited their planet. The river that flowed not far from their house sounded wonderful in the night air.

John quickly maneuvered their new mattress into their home and Cortana made the bed with the new bedding they'd purchased. She ran her hand over the comforter and she sighed. "It's so soft!" She exclaimed, still finding herself fascinated with the sensation of touch.

She changed into her nightclothes. John preferred to sleep simply in shorts. She turned off their bedside lamp and crawled into their new bed. She loved when moonlight streamed into their bedroom late in the night.

She sighed. John laid on his back looking up through the skylights on their ceiling. The moonlight created shadows on his face. Cortana wrapped herself around him, their legs tangling together under the sheets. She twined her hand with his. They sat quietly for a few minutes in a comfortable silence.

Cortana breathed deeply. She reached up to John's face and palmed his cheek. He turned into her hand and looked upon her face.

"I love you," she whispered. She felt proud of him and his ability to speak so freely with Fred and Kelly. To let himself love her the way he had, everything he had given her was all she had in this life.

He ran his large hand through her short hair. Cortana couldn't help but sigh at how good it felt. He kissed her, his hand tightening and gripping at her hair while another ran underneath her nightclothes and up her thigh. His rough hands on her bare skin made her feel slightly dazed, goosebumps erupted all over her skin. She always found herself surprised that despite his strength he was a gentle, intense lover, not that she'd really know anything to compare him to.

She wrapped her leg around him and pressed her body into his, wrapping an arm behind his neck and running a hand from his jawline to his shoulder, all the way to his hand that she grabbed and put on her breast. She tugged at his shorts until he helped her take them off. She ran her hands down his chest and pulled her nightgown over her head and threw it aside.

Everytime they were together she was floored by the overall intensity of the experience. She had lived as one with him, knew his thoughts and feelings until they became her own. Living life as a human she lost that connection to him. She never would've imagined that sex would not only compare but create a closeness to him she'd never been able to imagine. When he moved over her she could feel him again, she couldn't hear his thoughts but she could see into his eyes and see how he felt, she couldn't analyze his vitals but she could feel his heartbeat in his chest, more real and vital than any number she could've interpreted.

She could've never imagined the pleasure she would feel when she was with him-as an AI she could process the entire human experience and break down the human sexual cycle, divided into four phases it was, excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution. An orgasm was simply a release in sexual tension, a response to sexual stimulation that resulted in an oxytocin, prolactin and endorphin rush. To an AI, it was simply a moment, a blip on the radar. She knew she had been missing something, that the entirety of the human race wouldn't write, sing, create and die simply for a moment if there wasn't more.

She never knew how it would make her toes curl, her muscles spasm, her heart race as if it would beat out of her very chest, how she'd cry out his name with total abandon, how he would collapse onto her and she'd feel his heart against her bare skin, how she would feel him murmur her name against her neck more than she'd hear it. It was the clearest, purest connection anyone could share with another, every time she felt as if she was being torn apart and being remade anew with him, something they could only truly create together. In a moment they could create a world of safety, trust and love that could only be felt and never described.

She held herself close to him, catching her breath and clinging to him. She couldn't get enough of how his skin felt against her's, how he smelled, how their rumpled sheets felt against her fevered skin, it was all more than she could've ever imagined. She allowed herself to run her hands desperately over his arms, feeling raised scars interrupt his smooth skin, she closed her eyes and listened to him breathe, it was her life, the religion she lived by, everything she would ever want or need was him.

She fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

This story starts out a little fluffy (which can be nice) but eventually starts to deal with more of the issues they will have adapting to civilian life. I will start to flesh out Fred and Kelly's characters as well. I hope that you will enjoy my interpretation of their characters! :D They're probably my favorites, they fascinate me.


	3. Chapter 3

In the middle of the night, John woke up to Cortana screaming and thrashing wildly.

"Cortana," he whispered softly, trying to shake her from whatever nightmare she seemed trapped in without scaring her. She seemed to hear his voice but was too focused on whatever she was screaming about. He said her name again.

She gasped and sat up straight in the bed but she seemed to still be dreaming. She grabbed hold of him suddenly, shuddering and shaking the entire time. She sounded like she was close to hyperventilating.

"We exist together, two corpses in one grave," she whispered to herself, shaking violently.

John couldn't understand how deeply her time with the Gravemind had affected her, the events of Requiem had followed so quickly that he never truly learned the damage she had sustained. When she would wake herself like this he felt helpless and even afraid.

He sat up and pulled her with him, drawing her to his chest. She rested her cheek against his chest, eyes still wide and remembering her torment. He ran a hand down her back.

"It's okay," he tried to speak in a comforting way but he didn't really know how. He couldn't understand what it was like to battle with something that wasn't real-things either were or weren't to him. He could say it was okay because it was, that was reality, but whatever she was experiencing was real to her even if it wasn't real to him.

"You found me…" she whispered.

"I did," he agreed.

"But so much of me is wrong," she continued. She was saying the same words she'd said all those years ago. "Out of place. You might be too late."

Failure. He had been late, too late to save her from the damage she sustained. He'd never felt such failure. She had held onto the index and been strong for humanity, she had done her part and he had failed her. He was supposed to take care of her, and this was only the first time he had failed, he would fail her after the Gravemind on Requiem. And she still came back.

"Nothing about you is wrong, nothing is out of place. We are here, in our tiny home. Together." Facts. The only thing he knew he could fall back on were facts. If he could just make it so for her.

She let out a shuddering sigh and he knew she'd snapped out of whatever she was dealing with. She started to cry. He didn't say anything, he just held her while she cried.

Her sobs slowed and she pulled away from him. She rubbed at her red eyes.

"I'm sorry, this is ridiculous." she took in a shaky breath.

"No, it's not. At the time, the mission had to take precedence over your status. But now there isn't a mission." He covered her tiny hand with his large hand, running his thumb over it.

She sat quietly for a moment and suddenly ran a hand over a plasma scar on his shoulder. She remembered almost every scar of one rippled over his shoulder and his clavicle. It looked brutal and Cortana remembered it distinctly. The scars that she bore from the war were less visible.

She felt guilty about her memories of the war. Because he was just so damn strong, like he had to be. Because she was ruined inside. She hadn't been strong enough two times over and had cost John everything.

"I've admired your strength, your strength to just move on despite the things you've seen and done. I find myself reflecting on how ruined I feel inside despite my outwardly flawless body. Inside, I still cannot move past what happened on High Charity." It was true. He never woke up in a sweat, he never cried out in his sleep, he never saw something and flinched because it reminded him of something. He was brave, he was strong and Cortana envied him. In most ways she had always felt like they were a team, that she could help him in ways that he couldn't help himself. As a human, she felt like she was the weaker, sadder one of what had once been the best team the UNSC had ever seen.

John thought before he spoke, "To start, I would be much worse off without you. I have more injuries from my teen years and the insurrection than a lot of the Halo Campaign where you were what kept me safe."

She wiped her eyes and shivered, a time where she hadn't been around to protect John, to save him. It terrified her.

He continued, "All of that being said, physical ailments are often easier to deal with. I don't think about it anymore, they don't hurt me chronically. What happened to you is different."

She ran a hand through her hair and exhaled a frustrated sigh. "I was arrogant, I felt that it shouldn't have affected me the way it did, that I was strong enough to endure. All I could think of over and over again was keeping the index a secret. I did that by flooding myself with memories and thoughts of you." she whispered. "Over and over I fantasized about a time we could be together and take care of each other, what it'd be like to touch you," she trailed off a little.

"When you found me, you and your promise were all that tethered me to reality, the only thing that allowed me to pull it all together and help you save everything. After that, I didn't feel like an AI anymore and that's why the events on Requiem were so hard for me. I was starting to feel more and more like a person."

She looked at his face, she could tell he was still concerned. "I will get better. I am happier than I've ever been and I have you. And now we have Kelly and Fred who depend on us."

John looked a little uncomfortable at the reminder.

"What's on your mind?" Cortana asked. She leaned back into the pillows, which she preferred many of, opposed to John who preferred none or one, and propped herself up. John leaned back. Cortana smiled, the bed didn't creak at all under his weight, definitely a good buy.

"I am conflicted about how I feel about seeing Fred and Kelly again. They are some of the only siblings and family I have ever known. Yet I feel responsible for them and I selfishly enjoyed being able to disappear the way we have," He paused. "They also confuse me slightly. I don't know what a child between the two of them would even mean."

Cortana laughed a little. "Once they have some things figured out between the two of them I'm sure they'll be fine parents if that's what they want," she shrugged a little and smirked. "Besides, who's a perfect, ready parent anyways. Their child will be well protected, educated, adorable and most importantly loved. That's all that really matters, the rest will work itself out."

Cortana yawned again. "I'm sorry for waking you," she whispered, snuggling under the covers again, getting ready to try sleeping again.

She felt him shake his head. "Never," he responded quietly. Never feel ashamed, always wake me, were the unspoken words. He wrapped his arms around her the way he knew she enjoyed, even though he much preferred sleeping on his back. She smiled and snuggled into him. She heard his breathing even out indicating he'd fallen asleep. He could fall asleep quickly anytime, anywhere. Cortana struggled a little more with sleeping, she would continue to make lists and think about the day, be it good or bad. It was worse after nightmares.

_I have John, and John is everything._ She fell asleep.

Cortana woke up the next morning to an empty bed. She'd sprawled all over and messed up all of the sheets. She almost always woke up alone, John didn't need half the amount of sleep she did, especially now that he was sleeping consistently. She smiled seeing dust particles in the sunlight streaming through the skylight.

She got up and opened her tiny closet. She rather enjoyed dressing herself and clothes. She picked some tapered pants and a button-up blouse. She liked the metal buttons and the fabric of his particular blouse. She usually liked clothing with panels that were rather simple but of nice quality.

She went into their newly furnished kitchen and touched the panel on the wall that would make her morning pot of coffee. She had convinced John they needed real appliances that worked on the same system, finally. She had to admit, she was in love. So much easier. Usually John would come inside and join her for coffee from whatever he was doing outside. He had her routine committed to memory.

Cortana sat down and pulled up the newspaper, it reflected upwards off the table as she paged through it.

John walked in and grabbed the brewed coffee for the both of them, pouring them mugs. Cortana smiled when he leaned in to kiss her good morning-usually he wasn't quite so affectionate but she could tell he still felt shaken by how upset she had been last night.

"It's a real surprise we didn't see this, there's an entire press release," she scanned the news and found a story from about six months ago featuring Fred and Kelly's wedding.

John looked up slightly. Cortana laughed. "Listen to this, doesn't get more UNSC public affairs than this:  
"Both Spartans met as children and fought alongside each other in over one hundred campaigns that helped turn the tide of the Human-Covenant War and the War of Insurrection. Spartan Kelly stated that they both 'share the same commitment to Earth and her colonies, so it strengthens our commitment to each other.' she is wearing a white designer knee length gown gifted to her by Admiral Osman. Perhaps she will bring back the once popular wedding color white. Spartan Fred has a photo series that will be featured at the Museum of Living Arts on Earth in New York City. Spartan Fred plans to continue work photographing subjects that interest him while Spartan Kelly has completed her teaching certification via correspondence with the University of Edinburgh. She has been hired as a teacher in the Lamnda Aurige Public School System."  
Cortana sighed. "I like how they leave their Spartan tags off because that re-emphasizes that they were taken away from their families. I also like the part where they say they met as children, it's almost funny. There's no mention of you, you have a press release somewhere that says you've retired to an undisclosed location."

"We were conscripted," he corrected. He never thought of it as 'being taken from his family,' serving as a Spartan was the highest honor. "I don't really care," he grumbled. "I've never done anything I've done for glory or recognition. The best gift the UNSC could give me is to leave me to live out my 'retirement' unless there is another imminent threat to humanity."

Cortana smiled. "Well you are the most decorated soldier in the history of the UNSC, but it is just so military the way you've been swept under the rug."

"It's worse that you will never receive credit for everything you've done. I hate ceremony and fanfare, this is the best possible outcome I could've asked for myself."

Cortana felt warm at his praise. "You know that the UNSC would still probably not consider me a human, let alone when I was an AI. It's okay, I really don't mind. I suppose this is the best possible outcome for either of us."

"What time is Kelly's event?" he asked as he leaned back a little in his chair.

"The track meet? Around 1400, we should leave by 1300 so we can get there and get a seat, Kelly sent a message that we can sit by her and her team." Cortana grinned. She liked seeing human customs and events, it was something she wasn't entirely familiar with.

John went upstairs and changed into his running shoes.

"Where are you heading?" she asked, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Base of the mountain and back," he grunted.

He must have a lot on his mind, longer run than usual.

"Okay, I'll be here," she smiled. He closed the door a little harder than normal as he left and Cortana frowned. She couldn't help but worry about him when he was like this but usually a run cleared his head.

She pulled out her comm tab and typed a message to Kelly. _Talked to John, we'll be there at 1400, we are very excited to see your students excell!_ She smiled. The idea of having a female friend was somewhat exciting to her, even if it might seem a little silly.

Kelly responded quickly. _I will save you seats next to mine and let officials know my brother and you are attending._ She smiled. Even though she and John weren't married and she wasn't sure if it was something John cared to do, the idea of going out and appearing like a married couple put a spring in her step. Kelly also sounded just like John, concise and to the point with no extraneous information. Cortana supposed she'd always been unorthodox and perhaps a little obnoxious but she didn't really care.

Cortana busied herself with as many tasks as she could but she couldn't stop thinking about going into town for the track meet. Until she was confronted with having friends she didn't know how much she'd wanted some.

John came back from his run about an hour and a half later. He was sweating quite a bit and without speaking a word to her went to go shower. This wasn't very unusual, he usually was deep in thought after he ran and Cortana was glad he found it calming.

Cortana put vegetables from their garden in the kitchen and some chicken breast for a salad. She pressed a few buttons on their control unit and everything started cooking.

John came in from their bedroom dressed in new clothes, he was wearing a Black t-shirt and some grey pants. He ran a hand through his still damp hair and sat down, grabbing himself a bowl of salad and plenty of meat.

"This is really good," he commented as he ate.

Cortana smiled. "Yeah I agree, this crop of radishes is a lot better than the last one." She took a fair amount of pride in the small garden she'd started outside, it was a very instantly gratifying hobby.

He ate so quickly but still very politely. He got up and took their plates into the kitchen. He checked his watch.

"We should get going if we're going to be on time," he said grabbing his wallet and putting it in his pocket.

"Alright, I'm going to grab our sunglasses in case we're facing the sun," she knew it didn't really bother him but her eyes were a little sensitive.

They got in their vehicle and Cortana punched in the coordinates Kelly had given them.

The stadium was huge and there were hundreds of kids in uniforms stretching and cheering. John felt a little overwhelmed. He was surprised when no one really took time to stare at him because they were so busy doing their own pre-meet rituals.

"John!" He heard Kelly yell and wave them over. She towered over the crowd of teenagers that surrounded her, even the tallest boy was at least five inches shorter than her. She was holding a clipboard and wearing a fitted zip jacket and pants with a whistle around her neck. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail. Ironically enough, the school mascot appeared to be The Spartans and John couldn't help but smile a little.

John and Cortana went and sat where Kelly had put her things, Fred was buzzing around and clicking pictures of the team. Once again Cortana was surprised at how normal he could look. John and Kelly stuck out much more and she couldn't really place why exactly. Maybe his movements and facial expressions were a little less severe.

An announcement played and everyone stood for the anthem. John, Kelly and Fred all saluted since it was outside. Cortana looked around, there were not many UNSC personnel attending, at least compared to the general attendance.

"Why don't you salute?" asked John after the anthem was done.

"Please, I'm no soldier, I didn't go through basic training and I was created from a civilian doctor," she laughed.

"Technically I didn't go through basic training," he said quietly.

Cortana started to laugh in earnest. Fred smiled in the slightest.

"Alright everyone, rally up!"

It was strange to hear Kelly shout, she was normally very soft spoken. Her team quickly circled around her.

"Does everyone know what they're running or throwing today?" she said a little dryly. A few kids raised their hands asking questions and she read off their various events.

"Okay, huddle in," she said. The students all huddled together for what John assumed was a pep talk.

"I know I've only had you guys for this year, and I know we came into this season as something of the underdog. I know what that's like, having the odds stacked against you,"

John thought of Kelly's painful, arduous recovery period after her augmentations. He remembered Reach when her lung had collapsed and she smiled and said she was okay. She definitely knew what that was like, out of any Spartan it was her.

"But you all have improved so much, I'm very proud of each of you. So go out there and lay it all out, don't regret anything, push yourselves." She reminded John of Chief Mendez on one of the few days he expressed how proud he was of the Spartans.

"Alright, Blevins, do what you do," she said a little stiffly. A lanky male who must've been the team captain counted off and the entire team yelled at the top of their lungs "Spartans!"

Kelly went to the first event she had students in while the others with events later continued to stretch and talk.

A few walked past John and Cortana and John could hear them talking excitedly.

"I can't believe we have a real Spartan as our coach."

A blonde female readjusted her ponytail. She looked like a sprinter to John. "We've gotta make her proud, Coach K is the greatest."

Cortana smiled. "Coach K, that's really cute," she laughed. A few of the athletes snuck a few glances at John and Cortana, clearly a little confused at their presence.

As the meet progressed, John was surprised to see how...involved Kelly was with each of her kids. She actually had a few really talented kids. She also screamed and yelled a lot more than either John or Cortana would've expected.

"I have never seen her so fired up, and I've seen this woman slice an Elite in two after bashing in the skull of a Brute with her hands." John murmured.

As if on cue, they heard Kelly screaming "Push it, finish hard!" To the anchor of her 400 meter relay team.

Fred sat down next to them, taking a break from photos.

"It is a little surprising but like all of us she is very competitive," Fred lowered his voice, "She thinks that some other schools resent the fact that there is a Spartan coaching this team and that officials sometimes make calls that aren't the fairest. But it's good, we may be among the first Spartans to retire but there is an entire branch of the UNSC that is Spartan-there will be hundreds retiring or getting out of the UNSC within the next decade or so. Society will have to adapt."

"That's interesting. There aren't many UNSC personnel on this planet, are there?" questioned Cortana.

Fred shook his head. "No, I think that's why we were placed here. It's quiet and not too extraordinary. Even if we wanted to we'd have a hard time causing trouble."

"It's the perfect place for us," spoke John.

"Didn't you grow up on Eridanus II?" questioned Fred.

"I was born there, yes," replied John.

"It must've been similar to this planet. They have started terra-forming the outer colonies that were glassed," stated Fred a little oddly.

"I wouldn't remember. I have fleeting memories before the Spartan program," said John.

"Me too. What do you remember?" asked Fred tentatively.

Cortana looked at John and he closed his eyes, wracking his brain.

"I remember sitting on a beach and my mother calling my name to come inside. I don't remember her face. I remember meeting Halsey. She…" He paused, trying to remember clearly. "She came to my school and watched me play gravball. She had a quarter and asked me to predict the coin flip. I guessed correctly and she gave me the quarter. A month later I was conscripted."

"You have a better memory than myself. I know Halsey didn't visit me herself. Kelly has the best memory, she vaguely remembers her parents. She was conscripted on her birthday, thought it was a game and evaded ONI for almost six hours," Fred said calmly.

John smiled. "That sounds like her,"

Cortana wanted to laugh but she couldn't help but feel saddened at the idea, an innocent little girl running from adults who wanted to abduct her. She tried to cover up her discomfort with humor. "I bet you guys were all the naughtiest kids in your classes, gave your parents a run for it,"

"I've always had to be the best," replied John.

"I bet you were bossy," teased Cortana.

The meet continued and Kelly's team appeared to be doing well. Cortana and John talked and watched, Cortana laughed at various comments John made throughout the event. Kelly ran around watching her students pole-vault, high jump, long jump and sprint their way to a third place overall with a few students advancing to the system-wide competition on Euripide.

Kelly gathered the students around and smiled. The kids started chanting something. Kelly blushed and covered her face with her hand bashfully.

Fred started laughing softly.

"What's going on?" questioned Cortana bemusedly.

"She promised the kids she'd run the track if they had 8 athletes advance and they had 10," smirked Fred.

"John, come over here!" Kelly yelled. John glared at her but listened to her all the same. Cortana saw the kids stare up at the tall man. A few parents had gathered around to congratulate their children and they too stared at John and Kelly.

"This is my brother John," she introduced. John felt very awkward about the 80-some sets of eyes looking toward him. He hadn't had this much attention in a while.

"If you can convince him to race me, I'll take a lap, hurdles and all," she goaded. John frowned.

The kids were silent for a split second but quickly got over their intimidation. "Race, race, race!" They started chanting loudly.

Cortana was busting a gut watching John under the scrutiny of a bunch of high schoolers, tears were streaming down her face.

John crossed his arms uncomfortably.

"It's okay if you think you're going to lose," Kelly goaded.

"I know I'll lose," he grumbled. There was almost no point, no one could catch Kelly.

"I'm old and injured," she said almost theatrically.

"We're the same age and I tore my Achilles tendon outrunning a Havoc missile once," he replied sarcastically, sounding almost like Cortana with his inflection.

"Loser buys drinks," Kelly wagered.

Looking at the kids and having Kelly play to his competitive nature, he sighed.

"Fine," Kelly looked like she was going to jump up and down in excitement. Even John had to admit, the idea of such a physical challenge with the fastest Spartan to ever have lived made him feel a huge rush of adrenaline.

The kids lined up alongside the track with some of their parents. Cortana and Fred went near the starting line, Fred snapping some photos.

"Cortana, rules," prompted John.

She felt like they were on a campaign together, her assessing the situation, him awaiting her advice. Cortana clapped and starting blocks came out of the ground.

"Okay, one lap, all out. Fred calls the winner," Fred nodded. "Loser buys drinks at dinner," Cortana cleared her throat.

"On your mark," Kelly and John looked at each other and Cortana could see the Spartans start to assess the challenge.

"Get set," they both snapped down to the starting blocks in sync, bodies rigid. Cortana swore she could hear the starting blocks strain in the slightest at the pressure they were exerting.

"Go!" Cortana yelled.

They both exploded forward. Both sets of starting blocks broke.

The kids immediately burst into cheers, shouting for their beloved Coach K. Kelly was beating John by a visible margin at this point. Cortana was absolutely floored by how fast she was, it was nothing short of stunning.

Right when Cortana thought John was gonna get his ass kicked by the female Spartan they hit the straight away with the hurdles...John started to clear them three at a time whereas Kelly could only make two at a time.

"Holy shit!" she heard one of the kids yell.

Cortana couldn't take the excitement as John came around the last corner, Kelly catching up to him quickly. He and Kelly were both red, clearly pushing themselves as hard as they possibly could. Her veins bulged out of her neck and her hair trailed behind her, her arms pumped impossibly fast at her sides. They both moved with an animalistic fury tempered by the grace and fluidity in their movements. John's strides were longer but Kelly's were just so fast. It was going to be close.

Before she could stop herself, she yelled, but what she yelled surprised her:

"Chief!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her fist clenched in the air.

When they finished she couldn't tell who'd won and everyone looked to Fred. He looked extremely embarrassed by the attention.

John caught his breath and swore. Cortana started laughing, knowing that he knew the result. Kelly had her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

Fred finally spoke up, "Kelly won by .2 milliseconds."

The students erupted into cheers for their Coach. As she was with everything, Kelly was a graceful winner. She put her hand on John's shoulder and ran two fingers over his mouth, a Spartan smile. He did the same to her. Fred snapped a picture. Cortana felt tears prick at her eyes.

"Don't worry John, I'm a lightweight, can't drink too much, never picked that skill up in my time with the IVs," she teased.

"I'm not worried, I started saving for retirement at six," he joked. Fred laughed at this.

"Okay, we will be meeting at Marley's downtown for our end of the season banquet, everything should be arranged," smiled Kelly, speaking to her team.

John couldn't help but wonder what the evening was going to hold. It would most assuredly be interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

THREE REVIEWS YAAAY! I will TAKE it! hahaha, made my day so more chapters yay.

This is meant to really show the Spartan's attempt at normalcy-hopefully it doesn't seem absurdly out of character. I try to really display that Kelly is trying, trying to do this whole civilian thing right because she wants to take the life she has for what it is. I know it seems like there is a lot of sex but I wrote a lot of this story in advance and that's just how the chapters are breaking down. hehehehe, I guess I just wanted to contribute to that part of the fandom! Hope it's not too farfetched, I really do care purely about character development and I think sex is kind of integral to the whole human experience. John's character has quite the journey to go on...

* * *

Cortana walked up to John and grabbed his arm, leaning against him as they walked to their vehicle.

"Admit it, that was fun," teased Cortana. John smiled a little. It was true, he felt alive, the thrill of competition still gave him a rush.

"A bit too much excitement for an old man like me," he deflected. Cortana rolled her eyes.

"I suppose you are what some would call a cradle robber, after all, I am only sixteen," even he rolled his eyes at this.

The drive to the restaurant wasn't long. It looked nice and it seemed like plenty of people had already arrived. The hostess stared for a long second at John, Cortana had to repeat that they were there for the track banquet. She shook her head and led them to a large room where everyone sat at tables. Kelly gestured that they come over and sit next to her at the table in front of the room. That table was full of the graduating senior class, herself and Fred.

The food was buffet style and it was very good, everyone ate and drank. Many parents came up to Kelly to thank her for a job well done. Kelly smiled softly and gently shook the hands of many of them.

"At the end of the meet, that was amazing," commented one of the parents looking at Kelly and John.

"My brother is very competitive, I always beat him," Kelly boasted. Cortana laughed when John scowled subtly.

"Are you new to the system? We haven't seen you at any other meets," asked a blonde, curious parents. John stiffened a little bit.

"We're a little new, still settling in, we were so happy to be able to finally be able to make it and see Kelly in action," spoke Cortana.

Cortana took over talking to people about relatively mundane things-adjusting to a new system, etcetera.

"So you and your brother are quite obviously both Spartans," inquired a man with thick rimmed glasses. John didn't know what the story on this was so he just stared at Kelly. He always opted for silence if he wasn't one hundred percent confident in something he was going to say.

"Yes, he's my twin, we were sent to Reach when we were children and trained as Spartans together," she said with a surprising sense of finesse. She must have been briefed better on this better than he had. It was amazing how little she had to lie, amazing what civilians would accept.

"So how does that work, with your parents and all of that," asked another. This is what John was afraid of, all of these questions. Kelly paused for a second and John spoke.

"Our parents died when Eridanus-II was glassed," John stated. A half truth-it was more than likely true for him and would most likely stop any further questions.

John had never seen such open sadness expressed over a total stranger from a group of people.

"That must be so hard, you must really depend on each other," commented another.

"After the Fall of Reach, John and I were separated for years. I didn't know if he was dead or alive for a large part of my military career, it was very difficult. But here we are, old and retired," she smiled.

"You two can't be a day over thirty!" flattered a parent. Kelly flushed at the flattery. It must have been odd for Kelly. She was an extremely beautiful woman, Cortana observed. She must get a lot of attention even when she's not realizing it.

"So where did you meet each other?" this question was directed at Cortana. John was amazed at how comfortable people were asking what he considered intensely personal questions of strangers.

"I was born on Reach," John had noticed whenever Reach was mentioned, everyone felt a need to look down and seem sad or solemn. John vaguely remembered a campaign centered around 'remembering Reach,' to boost support for the UNSC and anger towards the Covenant. It clearly had been very effective. He wondered if Cortana looked Hungarian at all, like most of the citizens of Reach had been.

"John and I served together my entire career-I was a field intelligence analyst assigned to John. I often worked the bridge during slipstream travel, lots of time to think. My parents died during the Fall of Reach," she spoke evenly, John couldn't tell she wasn't speaking from experience.

Before anyone could ask any more questions Kelly started a presentation that showed various photos from the whole season. They were rather excited, the students smiling at all the photos, cheering at some and laughing at funnier ones. There was a team photo from the beginning of the season. Everyone was smiling except Kelly. Kelly looked rather solemn, even a little more haunted than she did in the present.

The presentation ended and Kelly walked up to a podium to talk for a little bit. Cortana couldn't help but notice how graceful she was. She never hunched her shoulders down, she stood at her full height, not even the least bit ashamed of what she was and Cortana had to admire that. Kelly even had her sleeved rolled up so her bone graft scars were clearly visible. Somehow they didn't look ugly or scary, they looked like they were a part of her, white scars climbing up her long arms further emphasizing her strength, the power and muscle underneath. So often Cortana had felt shame for who and what she was.

"This has been a new experience for me. Not long ago, I could never have foreseen not only an end to a war I'd dedicated my entire life to, but working with your children. I thank you for your trust and I thank your children for their hard work. You may have heard from them that I am unrelenting and at times rather stern," a few kids laughed. "But being here and watching you all grow has helped me more than you could could ever know," her voice had the tiniest quiver in it.

A female at the senior table stood and spoke to the room, "Before we get back to eating, us seniors have a gift for Coach K," all of the older students stood. Kelly looked shocked.

"So, when we found out we were getting a real Spartan for our track and field coach, we were absolutely terrified," the room laughed, some of the younger kids nodded. "And while we can't even dream of running as fast as you or throwing anything as far as you probably could, you never once stopped believing in us and never once expected anything less than excellence from us, I speak for the whole team when I say that none of us have ever felt so cared for, so supported, and so inspired."

All the students went down the line and said a favorite memory they had from the season. Some were funny and others more serious. Kelly looked as if she were hanging on their every word. The last senior stood up to speak. He was a lanky blonde with glasses, he was thin but looked fast.

"I remember I was having a bad day at school, my brother, who was an ODST, came for a visit. He hasn't been the same since he was discharged because of an injury that causes him chronic pain," the boy paused, "and you asked me what was wrong, you could tell that something wasn't right even though I hadn't told anyone. Even just you asking made all the difference to me, I felt so much better knowing that someone knew I didn't feel right. That night at the meet I did what you said, I went all in and I broke my personal record for all of my events and got first in the 400. My brother came to the meet, it was his first time at a public event with his prosthetic. After the meet he told me he was proud of me and that you served alongside his battalion before the end of the Human-Covenant war. He said that you and another Spartan saved him and his whole battalion by running into Covenant fire as a diversion outnumbered by almost one hundred of them,"

The whole room was silent. Kelly recalled the mission-the ODSTs had been brave, their losses had been critical that day, despite that they had fought on with valor.

The boy was close to tears at this point. "I guess all I can say is thank you for everything Coach." The room cheered loudly, The seniors presented Kelly with a photoboard that had pictures of all of them. It was signed with lengthy, heartfelt messages. They also presented a gift card to a clothing store that specialized in clothes she apparently wore often. John was impressed with how attentive her students were and how they clearly cared for her.

John observed as all the seniors swarmed Kelly in what could be described as nothing less than a group hug. At first, she seized up, uncomfortable but before she knew it she was hugging them back and crying herself.

In that moment, John knew that Cortana was right-Kelly was going to be an excellent mother. Even though he had never really known a mother, he knew that there was something to it that Kelly seemed to, somehow, instinctively possess.

Everyone was talking and laughing happily afterwards. John bought Kelly her promised drink of choice and looked upon the room. The children, really, young adults looked so innocent. At this age John had already seen war, he'd killed hundreds and sustained life threatening injuries. They all laughed and smiled, oblivious.

It was all worth it. He thought to himself. Seeing these students of outer colony planets like he himself was, he saw the safe world he had helped create for all of them. Their innocence brought him hope.

"They're wonderful, aren't they?" whispered Kelly.

He nodded. "I have absolutely no regrets."

Kelly sighed. "I look at them and I feel so grateful. So honored that I was given the responsibility of defending them, of fighting for them. I will never forget when you and I looked upon Jericho VII as it was glassed. You said that there would be other places to fight for and I didn't believe you. As usual, you were right, and here we are. This place is worth everything to me. The loss of Reach inside of me has been healed. Not forgotten, but soothed,"

John nodded. "I understand." He looked over at Cortana who was laughing at a joke someone was telling. "Thank you for inviting us. Cortana does well with other people, I feel badly that she has isolated herself for me all of these years."

"She is special. Never lose her," said Kelly sternly. John thought back to Sergeant Johnson's dying words.

"It's funny, you aren't the first person to tell me that. Despite that, I've lost her twice before. She keeps coming back to me somehow," he sipped at his beer.

"Hold her closer then. It is in our nature to give until we have nothing more, a blank check written up to the value of our very lives and yet you've held back with her," He noticed her glance at her wedding band.

He shook his head. "I don't know if that's what she wants."

"That's a lie, you know her," Kelly stated calmly.

"Even if it is what she wants, it's too risky," he gripped his glass a little tighter than necessary, twisting it nervously.

"If it's ONI and the UNSC you're worried about, you should know they could care less. If you hadn't gone AWOL they would've found a way to retire you regardless, you just gave them an easy out. They want to forget we exist without seeming callus. It's shameful how little they've acknowledged everything you have done for humanity," she collected herself before she lost her temper. "What I'm trying to say is that you have been excessively cautious. So many others cannot enjoy this freedom that we've bled for, it's irreverent to do anything less than live your life to the fullest degree of possible happiness."

John looked at Cortana while she talked to a few of the parents while she sipped at a drink. Her cheeks were a little flushed, her blue eyes, the only thing on her that didn't really look human, they were much too bright and vibrant to occur naturally in humans, lit up her face as she told a story. He did love her more than he'd loved anything.

"Is that why you want to have a child?" he asked evenly.

Kelly took a large gulp of her drink. "Partially. I feel like Frederic would be a good father, he's patient and compassionate," she paused, "A selfish part of me sees how much I have grown from these children and I want to experience that with my own child, I know I have a lot of growing to do as a person. But mostly I just feel that it would help me move on, move on from the UNSC and the feelings of aimlessness Fred and I both have after forty years of service."

John nodded. It made sense to him, her rationale. Moving on was hard for him in some ways but in others it had been the most natural thing he'd ever done. He liked the life he and Cortana had and part of him was uncomfortable with how rapidly it was changing. He knew she was happier and usually her happiness was his happiness.

"I will think upon it," he said looking to Kelly. She smiled a tiny smile and put her hand on his shoulder. She promptly finished the rest of her drink.

"Time for another drink," she smiled.

"I thought you said you couldn't drink much."

"I might have been fibbing a little bit. Spartan-IVs have some pretty interesting drinking customs," she said, taking John's credit chip and tapping it on the counter they sat at to receive another cocktail.

"Like what?" John couldn't help but be a little curious, he'd only been on one Spartan-IV fireteam before he went AWOL and it had been very strange.

"Well, there's a tradition on fireteam Kronos that for every kill you make with an energy sword you have to take a shot, of course a shot purchased by your teammates," she trailed off. John knew that Kelly's preferred Covenant weapon was the plasma sword and for good reason, she was one of the few people quick enough to be truly deadly with it, at least on a large scale. The only person John knew who was better with it was Thel'Vadaam himself. "You may recall I'm not too shabby with an energy sword so, needless to say, I drank the most by far that evening," she chuckled at the memory. She had fallen down a few times walking back to her dorm with her teammates-it was the first time she had felt at ease with them, like she had belonged with them.

John chuckled imagining Kelly drinking a bunch of them under the table over a plasma sword. He couldn't help but fondly recall his days in the field with Blue Team. They were truly amazing.

"They of course all find other reasons to drink, for a while most of them revolved around me and how awkward I felt around them, the first week or so the team would tally up non-mission essential words I spoke to them and take a drink for each one. The first week they had three total," she wrapped her fingers on the counter. Her eyes were far away remembering a time he hadn't experienced.

"It was a different battle entirely, the Covenant separatists didn't have a fraction of the resources they needed to be truly effective so I actually had tours of duty instead of always being on duty. Fred was working mostly in command structure instead of in the field-occasionally he was a sniper for specific targets, you remember how he has those eyes," John did remember, Fred was one of the best snipers he'd ever seen, second only to Linda, "but most of the time he was needed in a supervisory capacity. We became closer when I served in the Spartan branch, it was how I started to look at him as something besides a brother," she smiled at the memory.

A few of her athletes came up to her and asked to take pictures with her and John stood alongside and watched. They all clearly adored her. She was a good leader, like all of the Spartans were but throughout her career she'd never really had a chance to show it. Some lingered and talked to her for a while. She spoke to them evenly and politely but with a certain amount of affection.

"How do I become a Spartan?" one of them asked, looking to both her and John. John looked at the girl, she was relatively short and didn't seem particularly strong, but there was an intensity about her, in her words.

"I think spots are extremely limited now that the war is over. I do not believe that people can enlist directly into the Spartan branch of the military, unless it's through a service academy so that is an option if you've considered applying. I would recommend to anyone who wishes to be a Spartan that you work on your PT and pursue the path of an ODST, they often do very well as Spartans. I am not the best person to give information because I am a Spartan class II, the process is very different right now. I could give you the contact information to some Spartan class IVs I served with and I am sure they would be happy to give you more information," she rambled a little not really knowing what to say.

The girl looked to John. "Do you have any advice?"

John wondered what she would think if she knew she was talking to the Master Chief and if that meant anything to kids in schools these days. He didn't have a very inflated sense of self, but he found the idea amusing.

"Evaluate why you want to be a Spartan. Being a Spartan isn't about running fast, jumping high and throwing things. It is about abandoning your very self and putting the mission first, no matter the cost," he looked into his half empty glass for a second, "Until a day ago, I hadn't seen Kelly for so many years I had lost track. I didn't know if she was dead or alive. I didn't even know she had married. That is the life of a Spartan," he took a gulp of his drink.

Kelly wrote down the contact info and the girl thanked her.

"Do you have any that would be good Spartans?" John couldn't help but ask.

Kelly hesitated, "I don't know, I don't know what they're looking for nowadays."

"Are there any like us?"

"...No," she answered resolutely. John nodded. He didn't think so either. Perhaps they had entered an era where Spartans like them were no longer needed.

The parents and students left and Fred joined them at the bar. Kelly really had been lying when she had said she was a lightweight, John was starting to feel a bit of a buzzing sensation just trying to keep up with her.

"I know it is a story, but I truly do feel like you are my brother," sighed Kelly.

"I am, it was me, you and Sam from the beginning," said John without hesitating.

"How much do you remember?" she asked.

"After we rang that bell it was all history."

He felt someone's hands run over his back and sit alongside him. Cortana leaned up against his side and smiled a toothy grin at him.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked him, ordering herself a drink.

"Hm," he grunted. She laughed at this.

She enjoyed her drink leisurely and talked with Kelly and Fred, she and Kelly ended up doing most of the talking. John was surprised at how well they got along, he never knew how social she was, perhaps because he'd had her to himself for so long. He wouldn't describe how he felt as jealous, but it was unnerving for him to see her so normal, so human with someone besides him. It made him happy but it was still strange.

"Thank you so much for inviting us out Kelly, you were amazing," proclaimed Cortana. Kelly smiled a reserved smile, feeling proud of her work.

"I think we are going to get going," said John, standing up.

"I'll meet you outside John, I'll only be a minute," said Cortana as Fred got up.

Cortana took out her tablet, "Kelly, let me see your tab," Cortana said. Kelly pulled the device out of her pocket. Cortana pulled up some information and it projected above her's. She pulled it over and put it on Kelly's. "I did some research, messed with a few systems and got you and Fred an appointment tomorrow with a specialist,"

"I-everyone was booked for months when I checked after you left last night," Kelly sputtered.

Cortana smiled. "I'm not an AI anymore but there are still things a girl can do if she knows a few tricks," she winked.

"I can't...I don't even know what to say," sighed Kelly.

Cortana's smile faltered. "This is what you wanted, right? I didn't overstep any boundaries I hope..if I miscalculated I sincerely apologize and-"

"No, that's not it at all, this is wonderful it's just," Kelly sighed shakily, a smile appearing on her face, "I just can't believe it," she laughed nervously, "Thank you. So much."

Cortana put a hand on her shoulder. "You're welcome. Anything for John's sister," Cortana smiled mischievously. The two women got up and went outside.

John had started their vehicle and was standing outside, scrolling through an article on his tab as he leaned up against the car. Seeing him do something so mundane was oddly appealing to Cortana and reminded her of exactly how attractive she found him.

Kelly waved goodbye to John and moved to get in her vehicle with Fred before she stopped.

"Cortana," she called.

Cortana turned to look at her before she opened the door.

"Yeah?"

"Would you…" Kelly fidgeted a little. "Would you come over after," she searched for words, "what we talked about?" she finished quietly enough that Cortana had to strain to hear.

"Yes, of course, message me," replied Cortana as she got into the vehicle next to John, but not before she noticed Kelly smiling bashfully.

John started driving away. "What was that all about?"

"I'm making friends," she replied simply.

"Careful, I don't like to share," he teased dryly.

Cortana giggled. "Is someone jealous?"

He snorted and pulled up to their home. "Don't be silly,"

"You know I'm always silly," she responded quickly as she opened the front door.

"Not always," he shut the door and pulled her to him.

Cortana laughed and blushed at how forward he was being. She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Unorthodox, then," she said lowly.

"I never said there was anything wrong with unorthodox," his hands lingered on her hips as he leaned down to kiss her. Cortana felt him lift her up and she gasped, slightly surprised. He broke away and started kissing down the column of her throat. She giggled as his stubble tickled her neck.

"John, what has gotten into you," she said a little breathier than she'd like to acknowledge.

"A few drinks and some advice," he murmured against her neck. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he made a strangled sound in the back of his throat.

He carried her to their room, she pulled his shirt over his head. He lost patience with the button down she was wearing, ripped it and then discarded it.

"I liked that shirt!" she exclaimed.

He all but tossed her on their bed and took off the pants he was wearing, leaving him in his briefs.

"I'm sure you'll forgive me," he teased as he leaned over her and pulled her pants down, running his hands over her legs as he did so. She hummed at the sensation.

"I don't know about that, I'm difficult to persuade," she sighed.

"Is that a challenge?" he whispered as he unclasped her bra.

"Perhaps," she gasped as he ran his callused hand over her breast.

He spent the rest of the evening persuading her until they fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Very dialogue heavy chapter, but I hope it helps elaborate on Kelly's character. She's really my favorite to write because I have so much liberty with her, but I do think she could actually be this way based on the little I've read of her in the books.

* * *

Her eyes widened. She hadn't expected him to react this way. She didn't necessarily expect him to fly off in a rage, he never did that, but she had expected something.

"What do you want to do about this," she gestured to where the transmission had projected.

"There's nothing really to do is there?" he poured himself more coffee. She looked at him, she hadn't predicted his reaction.

"No," she sighed and looked into her mug, "I suppose there isn't."

"Look at it this way, if there is a problem, ONI will probably send a talking head to come and explain whatever story they want public on a news forum. From what Kelly has told me, as long as we aren't starting up some sort of insurrectionist movement with three Spartans and an ex-AI, they are happy and we're left alone," he drank more of his coffee, "After all, the most honest assessment made of me was when I was referred to as an 'aging Spartan,'" he stated dryly.

"What about me?" she said worriedly.

"Halsey made sure that on paper you had the required papers for citizenship and naturalization. They shouldn't be able to touch you."

"They also shouldn't have been able to touch a bunch of six year olds in their homes but they managed that," she cried, panic creeping into her voice.

"Nothing is going to happen to you," he said calmly.

"How can you say that?" she exclaimed.

"Because I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you," he spoke finally.

Cortana's eyes widened. How could he speak with such confidence, how could he even imply that if confronted with fighting for her against the will of the UNSC, he would.

She smiled softly. "Okay," she exhaled, looking down.

"It won't come to that, I think that they're pretty much done with us. The future doesn't need me, they have an entire branch of Spartans who will succeed in defending humanity."

"I hope so Chief."

"I'm retired," he droned.

"Old habits," she replied filling her cup of coffee again. She grabbed the pot to find it was almost empty. She laughed. "Gosh, we've gotten really bad about coffee, we drink a lot."

"Don't know how I survived two wars without it," he got up to go make another pot. Cortana couldn't help but laugh. She was happy that he wasn't upset.

They went their separate ways in the afternoon the way they usually did. Cortana continued to read and research things that interested her while John did whatever he did outside-Cortana usually didn't concern herself with it.

Around 1600 Cortana received a message from Kelly.

_Can I come over?_ Cortana had never had anyone visit. Cortana sent the coordinates.

_I'm going to run over._

Cortana set down her book.

_Okay, just come in don't bother knocking._

Kelly arrived shortly thereafter. She of course didn't look winded at all, her hair was still perfectly in place, yet Cortana could tell she didn't seem quite right.

Cortana invited her into their living room and turned the fireplace on, she found it relaxing so maybe Kelly would too.

"Our house is pretty small," commented Cortana as Kelly sat down into their couch that was too large for the room.

"It's nice," said Kelly, looking around at the open rafters and wood floors.

Cortana felt proud of their little house. "John and I built it ourselves when we came here, I programmed all of the interfaces and programs that run the house and John did all the woodwork, it was pretty fun," Cortana smiled at the memory.

Kelly looked around at the small decorations they had, Cortana had hung up Fred's picture of John. There was a shelf that had John's medals built into the wall. Kelly could see the influence Cortana had on the home clearly, things were a little less orderly than her and Fred's house, a little more lived in-a mug set on a table, curtains flowing by an open window, a fingerprint on a mirror, it felt a little less sterile.

Cortana watched Kelly and she could tell that the woman wanted to speak but was too uncomfortable.

"So how did it go?" Cortana prompted.

Kelly put her a hand on her forehead and looked rather anguished. Cortana sighed.

"Look, I'm sure that disappointment in this kind of thing is normal, I could help you find someone else and-"

"It went fine," Kelly sighed.

Cortana waited for her to continue.

"They gave Fred and I a series of hormone shots and pills to take an hour before we want to…" she looked down. Cortana was shocked at how uncomfortable she was talking about anything of a sexual nature, but she supposed that would be normal.

"Have sex," Cortana finished for her and Kelly nodded.

"What are you afraid of?" Cortana asked rather clinically.

"I don't know."

"Well surely you know what to expect," questioned Cortana.

"In the most clinical sense, yes."

"So what you're saying is you don't know what to anticipate physically and emotionally," prodded Cortana.

Kelly looked confused. "I don't understand."

Cortana felt herself get a little warm. "Well there's a lot more to it than just, well...finishing," Cortana concluded awkwardly.

Kelly stared at her blankly and Cortana knew she wasn't going to like the conversation coming.

"I just...I don't know what to expect, both of us," pleaded Kelly. "Of course I understand the mechanics and what needs to happen to conceive a child but what if it still doesn't work right what if we do it wrong?"

Cortana understood a little better now, Kelly had put sex into a category of failure and success, success being conception of a child and failure being everything else.

"You know that sex is pleasurable, right?" Cortana had to ask because clearly Kelly wasn't seeing the entire picture.

Kelly nodded, "Yes but I don't understand why or how really,"

"So you've never had any...I don't know, erotic thoughts or fantasies?" she prodded. If that's where the conversation was going, it may as well be productive, Cortana mused.

"I think so, when I was a young girl before the augmentation procedures I would have..dreams," she trailed off.

"Okay well, do you remember how that made you feel?"

"Warm...confused, uncomfortable."

"You see that's the problem, you're associating your feelings that you have as something uncomfortable and confusing," Kelly looked slightly ashamed. "A war is not a place for sexual thoughts and feelings, this is true, but now you need to focus on allowing yourself to feel out what's right for you, I mean, you find him attractive don't you?" Cortana sighed.

"So you find John….attractive?" questioned Kelly.

Cortana flushed as she started thinking about him in varying states of undress. "Um...Yes. Very much. Attractive that is, how I find him," she stuttered awkwardly.

"But what does that even mean? I feel that I could just as easily say that you are 'attractive' as I could say about Fred,"

Cortana held back a sigh. This is worse than she thought. If Kelly wasn't so set on being a mother she probably would've just told her to forget about it.

"I mean, assessing that someone is aesthetically pleasing to look at is different than finding them attractive," Cortana paused and sighed. I'm going to have to go there I guess. "For example, there are certain features about John that I find particularly attractive, like his eyes or his hands, I like when he has a day or two of stubble and how that feels when he kisses me, I like his arms, all of those kind of things make me feel," she paused and couldn't help but feel embarrassed being so frank, "it makes me feel what would clinically be described as arousal but that's just too distant of a word for the actual feeling, it feels exciting and exhilarating,"

"Like going into battle," Kelly reasoned.

"Yes but different, same concept, heart beating in your ears," Cortana only spoke because she had been able to tell what John felt when he went into battle through their neural connection, "It's much more…" Cortana struggled for words. "It's much more uncontrollable, it makes you act just...impulsive, say and do stupid things, you feel like you're on some sort of drug sometimes...I can tell you that you won't be disappointed," Cortana laughed a little awkwardly. "Have you ever thought about Fred that way?"

Kelly clearly was deep in thought. "Yes, I think so,"

"Okay so what was the situation, if you don't mind me asking," prodded Cortana.

Kelly looked right at Cortana. Cortana found that oftentimes Spartans made more eye contact when they were uncomfortable which was the opposite of her instinct. They made a lot of eye contact in general.

"There was this time where I had just come home from work and Fred was in the shower," Kelly paused and wrung her hands, "I went into our bedroom to put my coat and shoes away and to talk to him about his day, the water stopped and he came out from the bathroom into our room and.." she was starting to turn a little red, she was still very pale so a blush was quite easy to spot on her as it crept up her neck, "I've seen him naked before, that wasn't it, it was something about…" she closed her eyes as if she was trying to remember the exact moment, "Something about the way the towel was loose around his hips and there were still drops of water on his body and in his hair," she finished a little breathy.

Cortana was pretty amazed, she could tell that the other woman was highly uncomfortable with how she felt right now and shocked by her reaction, but it was different than being awkward, gosh what they put in that shot must sure work fast.

"So, how do you feel right now, remembering that memory?"

Cortana saw a visible shiver run up the other woman's spine, then Kelly looked at her in shock.

"Good. Very good. My heart is beating faster. I'm scared, but…" she took in a deep breath, "Good overall." she nodded firmly.

"You should think on that memory and see where it takes you, maybe you could tell him about it and maybe he has other memories like that about you, whatever you think would help both of you be on the same page," explained Cortana. Kelly nodded as if she was mentally taking notes.

"Can you tell me what it's like?" she spoke quietly after a minute.

Cortana looked downward bashfully. "You want to hear about me and John," Cortana questioned a little skeptically. She couldn't believe she was explaining sex to a forty-six year old virgin. "I mean, the first time was…" Cortana closed her eyes in embarrassment hoping that maybe the whole situation would disappear if she could just melt into the chair she sat in. She opened her eyes and Kelly was still sitting there. Nope, that didn't work.

Kelly just continued to look at her with those big eyes and Cortana couldn't help but think she looked so young and naive in that moment. It was an odd picture. This Spartan had seen and done amazing things, things that most people couldn't even fathom but as a woman she had very few experiences.

"The first time was a little painful and slightly awkward, but it gets better exponentially with practice," she explained. "I mean...let me put it this way, overall, out of all the human experiences I've had, eating, swimming, feeling the sun on my skin, taking a hot bath, sex is easily the most wonderful, amazing and pleasurable of anything I've ever done." Kelly continued to listen with rapt attention, clearly wanting to know more.

"It's like...It's like being on fire but in a good way, without it actually burning," Cortana looked at Kelly and knew that the metaphor was lost on her. "It's the biggest rush you could ever experience, but it is also a little scary," explained Cortana.

"What's scary about it," prompted Kelly.

"I mean, you're both naked and completely vulnerable to one another, you have to trust someone else with your body. I worried a lot about silly things like 'will he like how I look,' and 'what if I'm bad at it, or 'does he still want me after all this time,' which all really ends up meaning nothing. You have to trust yourself, to let yourself feel good. It's really easy, at least for me, to overanalyze things and misinterpret when really it's rather simple, it almost entirely comes down to trust which is, in my opinion, a large part of what love is," she knew she was rambling but she couldn't really stop.

Kelly nodded. A little tension released from her shoulders.

"Look, all that matters is you two figure it out together. It might be awkward or uncomfortable at first but as long as you both pursue what feels good and right, you can't really go wrong! It is just you two, together and that's all that matters," comforted Cortana.

Kelly smiled softly. "So there aren't any rules?"

"No not really, I mean, of course there are physical limitations but anything that feels good is fair game in my opinion! I mean, do you even know what you like?"

Kelly shook her head. Cortana sighed.

"How many of those pills did you two receive?"

"Thirty each and then weekly injections for a month, we were told we shouldn't need the pills after a month of the injections, then it's just boosters every six months."

"I recommend that you and Fred take it slow. You two should take your pills this evening but instead focus on showing each other what you like and figuring it out for yourself, and if sex happens as a result of that then so be it, if it doesn't, don't attach positives or negatives to any outcome, everything is a step forward."

Kelly was once again deep in thought. "You've helped me a lot, it's a lot to think about."

Cortana smiled. "It's not a problem, it's admirable that you're taking care of yourself and pursuing the things you want, that can be one of the hardest things for someone to do."

Kelly nodded.

"How did you know that you loved the Chi-," she caught herself, "I mean John," she amended awkwardly.

Cortana smiled warmly. "When I was created, Catherine told me I could pick any of the Spartans. I could've picked you or Fred even, all of you were strong, brave, fast...I initially picked John because he just had this...luck, this energy about him that drew me to him. He was so...magnetic. Right away there was something that drew me to him, I thought he was attractive, even in photos. Of course because of my nature, being created from a flash clone of Doctor Halsey's brain, I had to wonder how much of my feelings were her's and if I could even have feelings of my own," Cortana paused and sighed. It was a point of her existence that was very challenging, being separate from her. She very much wanted to be different from her.

"I knew that I loved him truly when I was tortured by the Gravemind. He was the only thing that kept me alive, the thought of him, his mind, how he felt like home to me, his promise and commitment to me helped me fight. It was the only thing I could remember, the only thing I could identify with enough to simultaneously keep the index safe and remain myself. I knew it wasn't just an eccentricity I'd inherited from Catherine, my feelings for him went above and beyond my primary objective programming. It was the only thing I knew was real, just from my own experience and without analyzing it. I could interpret every fact and rule of the universe but still never truly experience it as an AI, but loving John was the first and only thing I knew was real. I gave my life for him, I would do it over and over again. He makes me insane and yet he provides me with the only true clarity I've ever experienced."

Kelly stared at Cortana, silently for a few moments before she spoke. Cortana felt if she was truly analyzing her, trying to peer into her very being with those big Spartan eyes of her's.

"Out of everything I have experienced, every story I have ever been told, every trial I have endured and seen, that," she looked once again directly at Cortana, "was the most wonderful story I have ever heard."

Cortana blushed again. Hearing Kelly make such eloquent proclamations was strange for a Spartan. "He is an easy man to love."

"Most would disagree. The Spartan-II soldiers have been criticized as exhibiting sociopathic tendencies, lacking empathy, being simply machines," Kelly said bluntly. By the way she spoke, Cortana couldn't decided if Kelly agreed or disagree with what she said.

Cortana shook her head. "No. I lived life labeled merely as a machine, feeling constantly that I was more. I feel that John struggled with this too-even though he was born a human, soldiers often viewed him as a robot, a machine, not flesh and blood. He started to view himself this way but I knew better. I knew that inside, underneath all of that armor he was just a man. A man capable of saving the universe, but a man all the same. I know him and he knows me, he is the best I have seen of humanity, he is the most caring, devoted, feeling person I have ever met. The rest of humanity is what is cruel, what is flawed. John is not a man of words, he is a man of action. When he makes a promise he keeps it. He is stubborn, obstinate, reckless and just as flawed as any of us, but his true nature, what truly defines him, is good. He is the most purely good being I have ever met. With so much evil in this world, goodness is what I treasure the most,"

Cortana paused, looked at Kelly and grabbed her hand. Kelly looked up, surprised at the contact. "I see the same goodness within you, the same goodness within you and Fred, you should trust that, trust that there is goodness within you and that the goodness that has made you a great soldier is going to make you a great partner to Fred and a great mother."

A great deal of emotions passed through Kelly, disbelief being the first. She'd never thought of herself as a romantic partner to someone, let alone a mother. At times, she felt that these past six months had been a fantasy-she'd lost sight of who she really was: a soldier, a machine. Before her eyes she'd created a world where she was something else, a divine fantasy where she was a track coach, a teacher, a wife, a mother. She saw a fantasy to which she thought her reality could be, two separate people, Spartan Kelly-087 and then just Kelly. They were parallel lives that would never cross each other.

Hearing Cortana speak of this goodness was foreign to her. As a Spartan she had been defined as the fastest. She was strong, she was brave and she was intelligent. She had never been described as something so delightfully simple and at the same time something so abstract as good. Cortana could see it so plainly, she could separate the soldier and the woman, something she had never really been able to do. She saw her for what she wanted to be but couldn't see for herself. She looked down at the comparatively tiny hand that grasped her own.

"For you to describe me as something so simple yet so great is complicated for me. Being a civilian is hard for me. I see how John has adapted with you and it initially made me feel that there must surely be something wrong with me specifically. Even Fred shows such promise in his work, such dedication and I tried to match it with mine. I've loved every minute of the work I do, children show such devotion when given the chance," she smiled briefly as she thought of her students but sighed.

"And yet, I've felt hollow. The way I've viewed myself has been wrong, you are right, there is more to me than being fast and strong, than being a Spartan," she paused, then smiled. "I don't know everything about myself or really who I am, but I think I can start with good and see what happens."

Cortana smiled, "That's what we're all doing anyways, trying to learn about ourselves and the world around us, you're no different in that regard."

Kelly sat back in her chair and let go of Cortana's hand. She crossed her legs and looked at the woman across from her. It was difficult to imagine that she hadn't always had a body. She sat so naturally, she dressed very well, her facial expressions were very animated, very reflective of her feelings. Kelly didn't think about aesthetic appearances very often but she knew that Cortana was very beautiful. She could see the resemblance to Dr. Halsey, but there was something slightly more exotic to her. She kept her hair short and layered. Her eyes were a very striking blue, they were dark and had a violet hue to them. Though Kelly didn't pay attention to these things, she knew she'd never seen another human with eyes that color. Her hair, though Black, was the same way, in the sunlight she could see a slight indigo tint to it. It reminded her of when she was a little girl and had asked to color her hair blue for her birthday-her mother had begrudgingly said yes.

"Cortana?" Kelly got her attention.

"Hmm?"

"If I had to describe you in a word," she paused and looked to her, "It would be kind."

Cortana smiled warmly. "That means a lot, coming from you." Kelly blushed slightly, she could tell how much Cortana respected her, her flattery was slightly unnerving.

They continued to chat for a while until the sun started to turn the sky pink.

"I'm going to head out before it gets dark. Tell John I want to go running with him tomorrow, I have the day off."

"Ooh, he'll like that. He's been wanting to climb the mountain for a while, you guys should do that, last time he did I was with him and he ended up carrying me up the majority of it," Cortana stood to see her to the door.

Kelly was about to leave when Cortana spoke.

"Kelly, remember, you can talk to me and even John about anything. Same for Fred, even though he doesn't seem to be much of a talker."

"He isn't, he expresses himself best through his artistic pursuits. But thank you, it means a lot to me."

Cortana watched as she started running towards her home.

"Damn, I'm never going to get over how amazing that looks," Cortana couldn't help but marvel at how fast Kelly was, how amazing the Spartan capabilities really were. Seeing them perform such insane physical feats outside of the MJOLNER armor seemed paradoxical, that it just couldn't be real. She was an amazing woman and becoming and important friend. She felt grateful to have her in her life already.


	6. Chapter 6

Now this chapter is pretty fluffy in the way that there is a lot of romance happening, but I hope that it's clearly not just gratuitous fan service-it serves a purpose in the development of both John and Cortana's characters. That being said, enjoy, haha! Thank you everyone who's reviewed, it gives me such encouragement!

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Cortana went back inside and started preparing food for dinner. John walked up behind her and put his hand on the small of her back. She smiled and leaned back into him, enjoying his warmth.

"How is Kelly, I overheard some of your conversation."

"Of course you did," said Cortana, rolling her eyes. "Can't have any girl-talk in this house with those ears of yours," she jokingly took her index finger and flicked at his ear. "Which part of our conversation did you eavesdrop on?"

"I overheard her talking about the appointment you'd scheduled and left when you started talking about my stubble," he intentionally rubbed his scratchy cheek against her smooth one and she giggled.

"Hmm, stayed until I stroked your ego, I see how it is," she teased.

"How is she," he persisted.

"She's going to be okay, I think she's just having a difficult time sorting out her feelings because she never really has had to do that before," Cortana continued seriously.

"I'm glad she can talk to you."

"Well it's the least I can do," sighed Cortana, bringing their dinner plates to their table.

"You're easy to talk to."

"That's coming from you, keep in mind I lived in your head for years,"

"You like talking to people," he stated-it wasn't a question but an observation.

Cortana picked at her food. "Well yeah, I do, I think people are interesting."

He looked down. "I'm sorry that I've kept you here, without people and without contact besides myself."

Cortana felt confused, "John I-"

"I know that we've been happy here, that we've created a nice life for ourselves, but I feel that you have sacrificed so much for me, I have received so much from you, including your own life. I want you to be happy."

She felt shocked at his declaration. She didn't know how he could be uncertain of her happiness.

"John, I could've never imagined this life. I have been so indescribably happy. Anywhere that our path leads is fine with me. I mean that." She was shocked that he could possibly think she was anything but elated at the life they led.

"I just…" he paused and sighed, "I can never repay what you have done for me."

Cortana set down her fork. "Is that what this is about? Paying debts?" she asked softly. He didn't speak.

"John, you don't owe me anything. This is like what happened after Requiem," he tensed up at the memory. She was gone, out of his reach, out of his control, he was alone.

"You said that you were supposed to take care of me. We're suppose to take care of each other. And we always have," she got up, walked over to him and sat on his lap. She felt him wrap an arm around her and she cupped his chin, turning his head so he was looking at her.

"Listen to what I am about to say," she said, looking into his eyes.

He felt paralyzed by her intensity at times, her emotions had always been so plain and volatile, so honest. "I love you, you can stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, we are, and always have been, a team. Anything I do and have ever done for you has been because I love you. You've taken care of me, you've protected me and given me more hope than you could even know," she leaned in and kissed him softly.

She pulled away and pressed her nose to his and looked into his eyes. "There is nothing I want more than to continue living life with you. Everything else is just a detail." she whispered.

He thought for a long moment about what she had said. All of those years they had spent together, John had never thought this would be the result. His own death was not something he had thought upon often, but if he had been asked, he never would've said 'I'll die an old man,' he probably would've said something like 'I am prepared to do anything to serve humanity, no matter the cost.' The only constant was Cortana. Cortana was with him. He depended on her. She was still here.

"Okay," he murmured. He ran his thumb over her cheek, still marveling at the softness of her skin. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. She exhaled shakily as he ran his thumb over her lips.

"I like your lips," he spoke lowly.

"Hmm?" she questioned, her eyes still closed.

He leaned forward to her ear, his breath warm on her neck made her shiver. "Earlier today, you talked about the things you liked about me to Kelly. I like your lips." He ran his fingers over her cheek again. "I like your freckles," he pulled her closer to him and she pressed herself against him. He ran his hand down to her shoulder, across her decolletage and to her breast. "I like how soft you are."

"Mmmhmm," she couldn't help but sigh, she really liked it when he was so forward, it wasn't necessarily unusual, he was a physical person, but normally there was a bit more build up.

"I talked to Kelly about a few other things I like too," she spoke so closely to his mouth that her lips brushed up against his as she spoke. She was rewarded with a small shiver up his spine.

"What do you like?"

"I'd rather show than tell," she replied, her voice husky with desire.

Even though it was rather uncharacteristic of him he left their dishes on the table and carried her to their room. He had never felt the way she made him feel. He felt like he could forget so many things with her. She was so small, tiny hands, tiny feet, slim arms, everything about him dwarfed her.

He felt her press herself into him and he groaned; she was so soft, he could lose himself touching her. Initially he was confused by the feelings he had for her. He'd never experienced anything so torrential, so instinctive. He had feelings for her for a long time, but to have his feelings tied to a physical body had been an entirely different experience.

He kissed her jawline and she gasped in a way that provoked something deep inside of him, every sound she made drove him to a very specific point of madness.

"I like it when you do that," she sighed, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her fingertips into his back. She ran her hands down to the bottom of his shirt and quickly pulled it over his head. She looked up at him, unabashedly staring at his body. She pressed her palms against his chest and with strength that surprised him she moved on top of him.

Her legs were on either side of his hips and it was painfully obvious what she was thinking about with how she pressed her hips into his. She crossed her arms and pulled her shirt over her head. He noticed she was wearing an undergarment she liked, it was dainty and purple with lace. He didn't really understand the appeal, it just stood in the way of what he really was concerned with.

He sat up to kiss her while she continued to move against him. He felt their movements become more frantic, more desperate. He pulled her bra's magnetic clasp apart and all but ripped it from her shoulders. He put one hand on her breast and another he fisted in her hair. She moaned into his mouth and dug her fingernails into his shoulders, down his back and to his pants. She quickly tore at the rest of his clothes making him feel rather exposed in comparison. Her bra had been something that he didn't really enjoy but for some reason he could appreciate her sheer panties. They were flimsy and left almost nothing to the imagination.

He grabbed her hip. Every time he found himself entranced by her soft, giving body. Everything about her invited him to touch, everything about her was opposite him, where he was all hard angles and corded muscle she was smooth curves and soft flesh. He hooked a finger on her underwear and pulled them down her legs, leaving her naked.

She was impossibly warm. That was always what struck him when he was with her, how she could embrace him so entirely, how she could send his body into a frenzy with her touch. He put his hand on the small of her back and pressed himself deeper into her and she groaned, her eyes shutting tight with what he recognized as pleasure.

She had a mole underneath her left breast and a constellation of freckles near her right hip. Her skin was pale and her dark hair created striking contrast. He loved the little things about her form, even things she would probably consider flaws. He could feel tension building within him, it was primal and visceral. Initially he had found the sensation uncomfortable, until he had learned to fully abandon himself to the feeling.

Her breaths were becoming more shallow and her movements more erratic and frenzied. She pulled him to her, he could feel the sweat on her body. She pressed her forehead to his, her mouth open and her eyes dazed but intense as she looked into his.

She frantically called his name and he felt her body seize up. She clawed at his back desperately, saying his name again. He couldn't begin to describe how intensely the image of her pleasure affected him, her lips parted, moaning his name, her hair messed and sweat collecting on her brow, it was all too much for him. He moaned his release quickly. He felt his heart beating in his head. She kissed him passionately, her hands gripping the sides of his face, mouth open and wanting. She broke away from him, panting.

She sighed and rolled off of him, landing on her back with a light thump. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to catch her breath.

He fell back on the bed with a louder thud, both of them staring through the skylight, listening to the other breathe.

It had never really been like that, it was somehow different than normal.

They enjoyed a few minutes of silence. John loved the feeling of his blood pumping in his veins, his heart beating quickly and his mind slightly foggy.

"Kelly asked me what it was like, being with someone," Cortana spoke quietly.

"What did you tell her?" John responded after a beat of silence.

"That it was like being on fire without the pain," she said quietly. "Does that make sense to you?"

He thought about it, what it was like seeing her in the throes of passion, how it felt to find his pleasure within her, how it burst through his entire body and overwhelmed him completely. It seemed like such a flowery concept, something that couldn't really live up to all of the poetic declarations and metaphors that people proclaimed yet John felt there was no other way to describe it. It wasn't just something nice or good, it was beyond that entirely.

"Yes," he answered quietly and definitively.

"She didn't understand, but I can't say I blame her. It sounds rather silly if you haven't experienced it."

"Mm," he agreed. He understood why Kelly would perhaps find the metaphor confusing.

She got up and he couldn't help but admire her. She slipped on what he knew to be her favorite nightgown. She went into their bathroom to wash up. He reluctantly got up and put on a pair of sleeping pants and laid back down. He felt his eyelids start to droop with fatigue. He heard her hum a tune while she brushed her teeth, it was a habit he found highly amusing.

She uttered a quiet command and the lights in their room turned off leaving the room illuminated by moonlight. If there was one thing John loved about this planet it was the two moons it possessed. He found moonlight beyond soothing, it was why he put skylights in their bedroom.

She crawled into bed with him and wrapped herself around him, her head resting on his chest.

Right as he was about to sleep, he heard her speak.

"John?" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

She hesitated before she spoke again, her voice so quiet even he had to strain to hear.

"Let's do this forever."

Forever. It was a difficult concept for him to even comprehend. It was infinity, it was a promise and a declaration all in one.

"Yes," he agreed simply. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for all the reviews everyone! Long chapter, see my note at the end.

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Months had passed since they had quietly agreed on 'Forever.' John's conversation with Kelly had continued to bother him regardless. If they had already decided on "forever" what was the point of a marriage, a relatively finite institution.

The despite that rationale he couldn't shake the idea. He had watched how Cortana had taken to human, civilian life for over a year. It was as if she was meant to be this way all along. She took such joy from simple things-he'd come home and see her staring into the flames of their fireplace, taking a hot bath, listening to music, she'd even ordered herself a violin and started taking lessons. He knew deep down that she would enjoy the idea of marriage and a wedding, even for the sake of simply having the experience.

It still left him feeling torn. He had no idea the steps one took when asking someone to marry them. Fred and Kelly had married largely out of necessity, there had been no grandiose 'proposal'.

But he and Cortana wouldn't marry out of necessity. He would ask her purely because he thought it might be an experience she would want. He had already committed himself to her in every way he possibly could, almost any other gesture he could think of would come up short.

He ran alongside a river at what he considered to be a moderate pace, thoughts like this buzzing in his head the whole morning.

Cortana woke up that morning feeling awful. She'd never been sick before and wondered if she was coming down with something. She rolled out of bed and checked her tablet, she was shocked to see she had three messages from Kelly.

_Can I come over?_

_You must be asleep._

_I'm going to run over, I'll wait until you wake up._

God, it must be important if she felt the need to run over on a Saturday morning.

Cortana stood up and felt lightheaded. She put on her slippers and a robe and went out to the living room to see Kelly sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Cortana, I-" she stopped mid-sentence when she got a look at her, her expression shifting to one of concern.

"Do I look that terribly?" questioned Cortana, slightly worried.

"You look paler than normal, where is John?" questioned Kelly.

"He's out running, it's fine, I just feel a little nauseated, what's gotten into you this morning?"

The largest smile Cortana had ever seen took over Kelly's face. Kelly excitedly patted the area on the couch next to her, indicating she sit down.

Kelly's mannerisms had gotten more and more casual the longer she was on her hormone replacement shots and the longer she taught at a primary school. Cortana couldn't help but wonder if she had just really needed to get laid, no matter how crude that was.

Cortana sat down by the excited woman. Kelly bit her bottom lip.

"I think I might be pregnant," she said, her eyes wide with excitement.

Cortana's eyes widened. "Really, why? Have you been showing any early pregnancy symptoms?" she questioned excitedly.

"No, I haven't been nauseated or dizzy, but I'm late, which happens every now and then but I think it's different this time, I have a feeling," Kelly spoke quickly and excitedly.

"Have you taken a test?"

"No...I brought a few over here, I was hoping…" she trailed off.

Cortana smiled. She knew this was a big moment for her, regardless of the outcome. She felt flattered that this woman considered her a friend, someone she could trust with her hopes and dreams.

"Do you want to take it now?"

Kelly nodded quickly. She took out the tiny pods used to detect pregnancy. Kelly took the pod and placed it on her forearm, pressed a button and it pricked her skin, taking a tiny blood sample.

"Okay, one minute," she stared at the tiny chip as it tested her blood for hormones that would indicate early pregnancy. Kelly stared intently at her forearm.

They were silent for the full minute. There was a clicking noise and an automated voice spoke:

"Elevated human chorionic gonadotropin levels detected, test result: positive."

Kelly brought her hands to her mouth, her eyes were wide and Cortana could already see tears forming.

"Oh my God," she whispered. She started laughing and a tear trickled down her cheek. Cortana started laughing with her.

"This is ridiculous," she wiped at her eyes while she laughed, unable to contain her joy.

"Probably the hormones," joked Cortana.

She looked at Kelly, she was positively radiant with happiness. It was a wonderful moment.

It didn't last long. Cortana suddenly felt overwhelmed by a bout of nausea and sprinted to the bathroom.

She heard Kelly call her name and follow her quickly enough to see her wretch into the toilet.

The other woman quickly kneeled down by her and pulled her hair back with one hand and rubbed her back as she continued to wretch and cough.

"Holy shit," Cortana gasped, trying to stop shaking and puking. She sat up and wiped at her mouth, enjoying the cold feeling of the bathroom tile.

She composed herself and sighed. "I am so sorry,"

Kelly shook her head and helped the smaller woman up. "No, it's fine, don't apologize."

"I don't know what's wrong with me," worried Cortana as they made their way back to the living room. Kelly went into the kitchen and got her a glass of water and sat back down by Cortana as she rubbed her temples.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" questioned Kelly.

"About a week," groaned Cortana.

Kelly's eyes narrowed. She didn't speak and Cortana worried.

"What is it?" she questioned nervously.

Kelly sighed. "It's just," she paused awkwardly.

"Just what," prodded Cortana, starting to lose her temper a little bit.

"Have you perhaps considered that you might be pregnant?"

Cortana swore her heart stopped for a second in her chest.

She started laughing. Kelly looked at her oddly.

"That's impossible," Cortana continued to laugh hysterically.

"Why?" questioned Kelly.

"Because," she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "Because I'm not real, I'm not normal, it doesn't make sense," she shook her head more.

Kelly felt badly. After all the time and advice Cortana had given her, she never would've guessed that the other woman viewed herself as not real. It was saddening. Kelly considered her to be one of the closest friends she had ever had.

Kelly sighed, not really knowing the words to say. Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out one of other tests she had brought. Cortana's eyes widened and she started shaking. Kelly gently grabbed her arm and put the chip on her forearm, seeing that Cortana was clearly incapable of performing the simple action. Cortana didn't react at all to the slight prick that gathered a blood sample.

Kelly could hear Cortana's heart beat loudly in the silence of the room.

"Elevated human chorionic gonadotropin levels detected-"

Cortana screeched and threw the test across the room before it could finish.

"Cortana it's-"

Cortana promptly puked on Kelly's feet.

Kelly got up quickly and got some towels to clean up the mess. Cortana sat on the couch, shaking, staring at nothing.

Kelly looked in their pantry and grabbed a few crackers, she had read that they helped with nausea in early pregnancy.

She wiped up the mess and sat down by her friend who looked like she was in shock.

"Cortana," she said worriedly.

"I have no idea how I could've missed this, it's laughable. I'm supposed to be a genius, I've missed my period for two months and it didn't even register to me that this was a possibility. That sounds stupid because I happen to enjoy very much how babies come into being but it just never seemed like...never felt like this could happen. But if I recall correctly, the UNSC birth control shots they administer should have worked their way out of John's system and I don't know if they would even _work _correctly on Spartans, it's never really been tested for obvious reasons. We just...we didn't even _think_," she shook her head, astounded at their oversight. It was like John to be reckless, to dive into a situation without considering every possible outcome but it was something she never did. It scared her.

"It's going to be okay," comforted Kelly.

Cortana looked down and shook her head. "I have no idea what I'm going to tell John," she whispered.

"Presumably the truth," stated Kelly bluntly.

"He's going to freak."

Kelly narrowed her eyes. "Are you actually saying this right now? I don't know if he even has the ability to 'freak.'"

"He can, I've seen it. When things don't line up with what he envisions he can lose it."

"What scenario have you witnessed," prodded Kelly.

"When I died he-"

"Cortana, listen to yourself. When you _died_ he proceed to 'freak.' Of course he did, he loves you, that makes sense. He also 'freaked' when Sam died, just like I did. This is different, sure, it's an...adjustment," Kelly paused, observing her friend's reactions, she was still clearly panicking.

"But it'll all be okay, remember when you told me about how John is good?"

Cortana nodded. "He is," she said quietly.

"This is true, I've known him practically all my life. You are right in your assessment, he is good. And good people don't abandon or hurt the people they love. He might be shocked initially and even afraid, but that's never stopped him before, it won't stop him now."

Cortana nodded. "I've never kept a secret from him, not really. He's always known everything. Even right now I feel like I'm hiding something from him and I haven't even seen him. Not to mention I can't even see myself as a mother and-" she panicked again, "I'm going to get so huge!" she groaned.

Kelly sighed. "At least you're not close to seven feet tall, if I'm intimidating now I'm going to be downright terrifying, or maybe just silly looking," she joked. Cortana started laughing despite the tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Can we go shopping for clothes together?" She had no idea why such a petty thought had came to mind but things weren't really making sense at the moment.

"We can shop for everything together, if you'd like," Kelly encouraged.

"A baby, a real baby, one part me another part John," Cortana sighed and for the first time really thought about it.

"All soft and tiny and cute," Kelly smiled, reflecting on her own joy.

Cortana sipped water and ate some of the crackers Kelly had brought and they continued to chat for a little bit, Cortana took two more tests, both of which were positive. Somehow her disbelief grew each time. It was surreal.

"I'm going to go home and tell Fred, if you're okay," Cortana nodded quickly.

"Go! Don't let me hold you back, go be happy!" She forced a smile. Kelly flushed and put on her shoes quicker than she'd ever seen her do, clearly no longer taking effort to move at a normal human speed, Cortana found it dizzying to watch.

John walked in the front door as Kelly was about to leave.

"Oh, hi John, I gotta run, Fred wants to run up the mountain again tomorrow, join us?" Before he could even answer she appeared to be sprinting home.

John watched her run off, visibly perplexed.

"What's wrong with her?"

Cortana laughed nervously. Something was wrong with her too. The world was going to hell the day he decided to buy an engagement ring.

His trip into town had been awkward. He had went into the jeweler and was astounded at how many choices there were. Everything he saw was either too flashy or too plain.

The jeweler went up to him and John had expressed his dilemma and suggested that they work together to make something custom. John had liked the idea of that.

"So tell me about your lucky lady," prompted the jeweler as he took out a stylus, ready to start drawing concepts.

"She's…" John felt at a loss for words. How could he describe her, the most amazing person he'd ever known, everything fell short. "Intelligent," he said a little dumbly. The jeweler held back an exasperated sigh, this was clearly going to be a challenge.

"How would you describe her personal style," prodded the jeweler.

Cortana wore clothes. Except when she didn't. That was pretty much all he really noticed. He hadn't realized how unobservant he was of these kind of things until he was prompted to describe her 'personal style.' What did that even mean? He quickly thought of outfits she wore often. They were definitely practical but they always had a certain flair to them, she was by no means bland, she took pride in her appearance. He glanced over at another woman in the store who was dressed very loudly with lots of jewelry and decorations, he couldn't help but wince. Cortana's outfits always had some semblance of order to them, a unified theme.

"She is practical and detail oriented, she is very subtle but elegant, refined, yet unorthadox."

"Okay, about how much are we looking at spending?"

John thought for a moment. He didn't really know how much most things cost-for the large majority of his life, if the UNSC didn't issue it to him, he didn't have it. When he retired, he realized he had quite a large sum of money, more than enough for him to live out the rest of his days.

"However much things of this nature cost," was the only answer he could really come up with. He didn't want to embarrass himself by saying something entirely too low.

The jeweler perked up considerably, "So price is no object?"

John sighed, he could sense he was cruising to a big bill, but he didn't want something ugly or of poor quality.

"I suppose not," he intoned.

"So what metals and stones are we thinking about?" The jeweler spoke quickly and excitedly. Though John found the entire process a little tedious he couldn't help but admire the man's professionalism and dedication. Every possible detail that could go into a piece of jewelry was discussed-things John would have never thought of. Not only stone cut and band thickness but the setting for the stones and various metal alloys.

John ended up agreeing on a bright silver metal that almost glowed it was so brilliant, it was mined on a moon in the Circinius System. The band would be very thin and round which wasn't really in style but John didn't care, he didn't think something bulky would suit Cortana's small fingers. The band would have two pointed small diamonds that would frame an indigo stone that was only found deep within Reach. There were extremely limited quantities of this stone because even though Reach had been re-terraformed industry and mining hadn't started up again due to the instability of the planet's eco-system. Not only did John find it fitting, Reach was where they met, it was the exact color of her eyes. The stone would be cut so that it would have as many facets as possible, it was apparently a new way of cutting gemstones that helped reflect very efficiently but was a variation on the classic cushion cut stone that had been more popular in the last twenty years. All things John had never even known existed.

"Normally I would have to tell you to come back in a week but I can push this up in priority and have it done by the end of the day,"

_I must be spending an obscene amount of money,_ thought John to himself. He hardly cared if it meant he wouldn't have to come back to this store for a while.

He walked down the busy street and into a cafe. He sat and drank coffee and read the news while he waited for time to pass. He couldn't help but find people watching downtown interesting. People were so resilient, they had bounced back from war so quickly. It was a Saturday so there were plenty of children with their parents shopping. A flock of teenagers walked into the cafe he was sitting in, they were laughing and talking loudly. They ordered their drinks and proceeded to take over an entire corner of the cafe.

John watched them. They were beyond normal, clearly happy. One glanced over at him, a red haired girl with Black glasses.

"Hey, look, it's Coach K's brother!" she exclaimed, tapping one of her friends. The whole group proceeded to look over at him and John felt awkward.

"Hi!" she exclaimed and waved frantically. He didn't know what to do so he brought up a hand and waved slightly.

Oh God. They were coming over. Was this something people actually did, come up to relative strangers and start to carry on a conversation?

"Hi! You guys, this is Coach K's brother, he's the one who raced her and lost," she exclaimed to her friends.

Oh. So that's how they remembered it.

"Oh yeah! I remember seeing that on the news, I should've went out for track!" exclaimed a short, sandy haired male.

"How's Coach K doing, I haven't seen her since the season ended," asked the redhead sincerely.

"She is well, excited for the summer training season," he said simply. She had spoken at length about how she was going to take her team on long distance treks, something she enjoyed almost as much as her sprints. She talked about him coming along every now and then to help her time them and create exercise programs. He knew Fred could just as easily have done this task but she wanted to spend time with him.

"Well tell her that Miranda says hi!" the girl smiled and lead her group of friends out of the cafe.

Miranda. That name brought back memories for him. Some people leave this world and it is truly a shame, Miranda Keyes had been one of those people.

In an hour or two, John went to the jeweler and paid for the obscenely expensive ring. He found himself at home, looking at a still-in-pajamas, pale Cortana and a bouncy Kelly leaving their home.

He was confused.

"She's pregnant and going to go tell Fred," continued Cortana.

Something about her still didn't feel right. Normally, Cortana would be radiating excitement and rambling about how excited she was for Kelly. Instead, she was quiet, pale and avoiding his gaze.

He saw her hand tremble as she went to take a sip of water. He moved quickly to her side, sitting on the couch next to her. Cortana took her shaky sip of water and set the glass down on the coffee table, water splashing over the rim.

"Cortana," he said, getting her attention.

She looked at him. Her eyes were wide and red from what he assumed was crying.

"What is wrong?"

She burst into tears. She started hiccuping and gasping for air while she failed to form words.

"Cortana, you need to breathe," he advised, starting to get worried. She started taking shallow, quick breaths that seemed to exacerbate her problems.

"No, take a breath, hold it," he corrected.

She took a breath and he put his hand in between her shoulder blades to feel her lungs expand.

"Okay, out."

She exhaled shakily.

"In again," he coached.

She took an even deeper breath in.

"Out now, slowly," he said after she had held it.

She slowly let the air out and she still trembled.

"Now, what's wrong? I can't fix anything when I don't even know what the problem is," he reasoned. He had absolutely no idea what could get her so worked up. She was emotional, yes, but usually rational, usually coherent.

She shook her head. "You're not going to like it," she whispered.

"Try me," he prodded. He braced himself for terrible news. She must surely be dying, there was nothing else that could be this upsetting. The ring in his pocket felt like it weighed a ton as he prepared for what she was about to say.

She put her head in her hands and mumbled something he couldn't make sense of.

"You need to speak up, even I can't hear when you mumble," he was starting to get irritated. He needed to know what was wrong so he could fix whatever it was, if he had to tear the galaxy apart again to find a solution he would do it, he'd done it before.

She sat up straight, took a deep breath and looked at him.

"I'm pregnant."

Silence. His facial expression must've conveyed the absolute shock he was feeling because she burst into tears again.

Pregnant. A baby. His baby. With Cortana. He was going to be a father.

Cortana wiped angrily at her eyes. "Just say it, this is my fault, tell me how stupid I am and how you never wanted this," she spat.

He looked at her, she was turning red with some form of misplaced anger. Is that how she thought he would react?

"John, say something, anything I don't even care what," she spoke angrily.

He looked at her. Even though she was angry and irrational right now, he loved her. This made the way forward clearer. He reached into his pocket and set the tiny metal box on the table in front of her.

Her eyes widened. "John-"

"Open it."

Her hands shook as she reached for the box and held it in her hand for a moment. She took in a deep breath and opened the box, revealing the ring he had purchased. She gasped.

"I-"

"For a long while, I have felt that I couldn't ask you to marry me-you have already given me everything, promised all you have in the world to offer, marriage seemed a petty commitment to offer compared to what you have done for me," he paused and grabbed her hands and the box, taking the ring out, "But I have promised what I can to you: forever. No matter what," he took her left hand and put it on her left ring finger. It looked how he imagined it would, perfect.

She looked at how the indigo cushion cut stone shone on her finger. It was so bright and so beautiful, it shone every color of the rainbow in its blue sparkle, the metal shone brightly almost as if it were glowing, she couldn't believe that John would even take the time to pick out something so senseless.

"I haven't said yes yet," she murmured, eyes still fixed upon the delicate ring.

He chuckled a little.

"Okay. I've thought about it. My answer is yes, but only if we do it before I get huge," she said, tearing up again.

"If you don't like it we can get something else," he said nervously about the ring.

She shook her head. "Don't you even think about it. I have no idea how you managed to pick something so perfect."

"I walked into a jewelry store and told the jeweler I didn't care how much money I spent, they're pretty good at what they do," he shrugged.

She gasped, "You really shouldn't have done that."

"Why not? I've never bought anything that doesn't serve a practical purpose, I wanted to get something of quality that you would like. Everything they had in stock was too ostentatious or not unique enough so I made something," he paused, "the middle stone is from Reach, it made me think of your eyes." he spoke quietly and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

She blushed. He always surprised her with the details he observed and the random acts of sweetness he performed. It humbled her, to know that he could treat her so gently and with such care. After everything he had been through and everything he had seen, there was still amazing goodness within him. She was honored that he viewed her as his equal, his partner. He had clearly thought long about this, even though she would have never anticipated it.

"I would kiss you, but a little bit before you came in I puked on Kelly's feet, so I will spare you."

"Is that normal?" he questioned worriedly.

"Unfortunately, yes. We've got a few more weeks of this if I'm as far along as I think I am," she sighed.

"How far?"

"Probably a bit over two months," she said quietly.

"Do we need to schedule a doctor appointment?"

Cortana took another sip of water and sighed. "I've been thinking about that and I'm concerned."

"About what?"

"I can't be honest with a regular doctor about my situation and even yours, I'll be viewed as a science experiment. If I'm not honest, I'm worried that I can't receive proper treatment."

"Why would you need special treatment, relative to other women, that is."

She sighed. "If my theories about you and what happened on Requiem are true, this baby is going to be part Spartan. It's completely unprecedented. If your augmentations have been integrated into your genetic code, like I think they have been, this baby will not only be large but more than likely stronger than me in a few month's time."

"There must be testing we can have done," he spoke worriedly.

"Yes, there most assuredly is, I could do it if we had the proper equipment probably, but that's not the best option. We can't have some random doctor, we can't even begin to explain."

They both filled in the blanks about what needed to happen.

* * *

Okay, I have never seen the John-as-a-father fluff trope done well, so I'm taking my stab at it. I promise it won't be nauseating and he will still be Chief, but also he's going to be John. Thanks for trusting me!


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for the reviews! I sincerely love reading all of them. Plot chapter, gotta keep the ball rolling! Enjoy!

* * *

John sighed and pulled up their monitor and dialed a connection he only remembered vaguely, 'in case you need me,' she had said.

It rang for a while. Cortana felt apprehensive, not sure if they would get an answer.

They both sat waiting for what felt like eternity until someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Catherine, it's me," said Cortana quietly, activating the camera in their home.

"Cortana?" Halsey's camera turned on. She looked a little older, a little wearier, but still pretty much the same. She had a prosthetic arm that she hadn't had before.

"John," she spoke, emotion clear in her voice. She gathered herself and looked around.

"It looks like you two have settled down nicely," she said almost snidely. Cortana felt confused about her relationship with the older woman. She felt like Halsey resented her and she couldn't help but return the sentiment at times.

"We need your help," John spoke directly.

"What's wrong?" she questioned.

Cortana sighed and John looked at the doctor.

"Cortana is pregnant."

Catherine's eyes widened.

"Is this true?" she looked at Cortana.

Cortana rolled her eyes. "No, he's lying. Of course it's true," she snapped. Redundancy bothered her to no end so she couldn't help but snap.

"It says you're calling from the Lamnda Aurige System, give me your coordinates, I'm on my way," she spoke quickly and started packing various items.

John quickly entered the coordinates to their home.

"Hmm, I never would've expected that," she muttered, referring to their location. "I'll be on my way shortly."

"We will have a bed turned down for you in our living room," said John quickly. Halsey gave him a weird look, like she couldn't even imagine him saying something so mundane.

"See you soon," Cortana spoke quietly. Halsey nodded and ended the transmission.

Cortana sighed. "Well, I suppose I should get dressed since we're having a guest," she said a little sarcastically.

"Are you hungry?" John questioned quietly.

"No, but I should eat anyways," she sighed.

"I'll make something bland," he said. He knew that when he came out of cryo and was nauseated bland food usually went down better.

"Thank you, I'm going to hop in the shower," she kissed him on the cheek and went to their bathroom.

John went to the kitchen and started a simple pasta. While that prepared itself, he went into the living room and pulled out the bed that was in their couch. It was entirely too small for him, but it would work for Halsey.

Cortana had moved their old bedding into a hope chest he had made last spring. He had purposely used a very fragrant wood, the bedding smelled nice and fresh as he made the bed neatly. Cortana wasn't nearly as neat when it came to making beds or anything really. She wasn't a slob but she didn't keep things military tidy.

Cortana had dressed herself comfortably, still wearing her house robe that he knew she found comforting, and came out of their bedroom. She still looked a little sick, but overall better.

"Ugh, I have no idea how we didn't notice this earlier, most of my clothes have been fitting so snugly, I thought I was just getting fat," she complained and lifted up her t-shirt. Surely enough, if John looked, her stomach protruded visibly more than it normally did. He couldn't believe it. He wasn't sure if he'd even seen a baby before, and now, in a relatively short amount of time, he was going to have one.

While they ate dinner, Cortana looked like she was choking down every bite. John couldn't help but feel badly for her.

"It's okay, I suppose it's a good thing, it means my body is creating the necessary hormones for my body to accommodate the baby," she spoke a little awkwardly, trying to get used to the idea.

"Is there anything that helps?"

"Go get some of the ginger in the garden, I can boil it and maybe it'll soothe my stomach," she sighed, "please," she finished as she sat down on a chair in their living room. She turned on the fireplace in the living room. She had insisted on a fireplace in the living room and in their bedroom. At first he had thought it was a little excessive, but when he saw how much she thoroughly enjoyed both he didn't mind.

He went outside and dug up some of the ginger roots she requested. The sun had already set, it'd been a few hours since they had spoken with Halsey, she should be here within the hour, depending on the mode of transportation she had chosen. They would have to prepare for Catherine's arrival later into the night.

He peeled a good amount of the ginger using his pocket knife. He boiled water and chopped up the peeled root.

In a few minutes, a ginger broth had been created and he poured it into Cortana's favorite mug.

As he was carrying the promised mug to Cortana, he heard an urgent rapping on the door. In three strides he opened it to see Dr. Halsey. Even though John towered over her, he couldn't help but feel a little small in her presence-she was very commanding.

"John," she said, greeting him. He automatically reached for the equipment and bags she was carrying and stepped aside, propping the door open for her.

"Come in," he said, turning and leading her to the living room.

Cortana was sitting in an armchair with her eyes closed, listening to some music. She heard his footsteps and looked in his direction.

He set down the equipment Halsey brought and pulled up the other living room chair next to where Cortana was sitting. He gave her the broth she'd asked for.

"Mmm, thank you so much," she said quietly, holding the mug and enjoying its warmth. She sat up a little straighter.

Halsey watched John delicately hand Cortana the mug-he was gentle to her. Both she and Cortana knew what he was capable of, yet he was so relaxed in this small home. She looked at the picture on the wall of John and his medals in the shelf.

"Who took this?" she asked.

"Fred did," John replied.

"Hmm, yes, I remember seeing this now," she said.

Halsey sat down in the chair John had moved.

"Hello, Cortana," Halsey greeted.

"Hi," responded Cortana wearily.

"I'm assuming you took a pregnancy test," Halsey said dryly as she pulled out a machine.

"I took three, the first one I threw across the room, Kelly had brought some more so I took those too."

"087?" questioned Halsey, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, she and Fred actually live a few miles away, we've become close friends," replied Cortana.

A flash of hurt crossed the Doctor's face. Cortana imagined that she was lonely.

She turned on the machine and set a screen on her lap, taking a wand like apparatus in her hand, "why don't you go lay on the bed, this will be easier," she requested politely. Cortana did as she asked and propped herself up on a pillow. John moved without thinking to sit next to her, the bed creaked under his weight.

"Lift up your shirt, please." Cortana did as requested.

Halsey started pressing on various points on her abdomen. Cortana shivered at how cold her hands were. "Everything seems normal just from the feel of you, let's take a look."

Cortana nodded and Halsey put the wand on her stomach, moving it around. John looked at the screen and could see color images of what he assumed was where the baby was.

"It's been a while since I've done this," Halsey adjusted her glasses, "aaaand, there it is, listen," a rapid thump-thump-thump reverberated through the speakers.

"Is that.."

"Heartbeat," Halsey affirmed, taking down some notes. "Strong, perfect," she added clinically.

She turned the wand a little more and John could make out a tiny blob that had tiny fingers, tiny toes and even a tiny little eyelid.

"That's…"

"Yes, that's your little one," said Halsey coolly.

Cortana looked at the image and started to weep.

John sighed. He had never seen her cry this much, Cortana was not what he'd consider a weepy person and he'd seen her collapse into tears multiple times today-she was clearly emotionally exhausted.

"It's okay-"

"I'm not sad," she interrupted, "This is...that's us, a little you," her voice cracked.

The more John thought of it, the more he enjoyed the idea. A part of him and a part of Cortana, he couldn't help but think it was going to be a pretty interesting kid. It was a weird concept that he'd never dwelled on, the idea of two people creating an individual. Since he and Cortana didn't really have parents, it was never a situation he could've imagined, he didn't really know what parents even did except in the vaguest sense.

"I'm going to run some tests and see how similar the child will be to John, my main concern is that if John's DNA was changed to include not only immunity to composition but integrated his augmentations into his make-up, the baby is going to be pretty strong by the time you reach full term," she frowned.

"That's what I figured," Cortana sighed.

Dr. Halsey numbed a small point on Cortana's abdomen, she winced at the sensation. Halsey took an extremely thin needle and, using the imaging device, took a sample of amniotic fluid. She took the sample and put it in a sterile container.

"John," she prompted, he got up and came over to her, "open your mouth please," he leaned over and did so, she took a swab and scraped the side of his cheek.

Halsey stood up, "I'll run a panel comparing these, I brought everything I should need. Do you have anywhere I can work?"

"John has a workshop outside that has space," Cortana replied, pulling down her shirt and tying her robe again.

John quietly got up and showed her outside to their outbuilding.

He opened the doors and turned on the lights.

She examined the stainless steel work tables. "This will do nicely, what do you do in here?" She started setting up her portable lab-it looked like she planned on staying a while.

"I like woodworking and building things," he answered simply.

"Hmm, seems a little mundane for the Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117," she said as she mixed up some solutions.

"I've had quite a bit of excitement in my life, I've been enjoying the mundane," he said a little defensively. He felt strange about her implication.

"And now you're going to be a family man," she said, analyzing what she needed to and writing down observations. She couldn't help but feel a little angry hearing him speak in such a way. He was more than this. He was silent.

She continued her work, focusing on the task at hand.

"Hmm, just like I thought. The child is completely unique, very fascinating, but predictable, she has rather extraordinary parents." He was extraordinary. Her greatest achievement.

She. It was a girl. He was going to have a daughter.

He turned to go inside, Catherine spoke.

"John."

He looked over his shoulder and acknowledged her.

"I had a daughter. She resented me and left me because I didn't take care of her," she looked down, "and my other children are either dead or grown with their own lives."

John knew she was referring to the Spartans. John felt oddly about her viewing him as one of her own. In some sense he was but it was somehow still strange. He had never had a mother, but if he had imagined a mother Halsey somehow didn't fit. He didn't know what a mother should be, but there was something inherently contradicting about her being a mother let alone to him.

"Miranda left to live with her father in her teen years," she continued.

It was coming together for John, he realized she was speaking of Keyes. He had heard murmurs, and now that he knew he could remember the resemblance between Miranda and her mother.

John didn't feel a need to speak, he wasn't quite sure why Halsey had spoken in the first place-perhaps the idea of children made her feel guilt, maybe she felt the need to give him advice. He didn't understand why she was acting the way she was.

"You gave me the ability to save mankind. I'm not needed anymore, so I am living this life. I am very happy. I am about to be a husband and father. I couldn't ask for more," he spoke carefully.

She felt uneasy. She knew he was right in what he was saying. The UNSC didn't need him anymore. But what about her work, the time spent creating her Spartans, making them who and what they are? What do humans crafted for destruction do in times of peace? She certainly hadn't expected him to settle down and start a family.

"So now that you are going to be a father yourself, do you ever wonder about your own mother and father?" she prodded. She wanted to see his reaction. In some masochistic sense, she was curious if he resented her in the slightest.

John felt confused. He had never thought of his own parents. He knew that Cortana sometimes thought of it, though it was purely in passing. He felt like it was so long ago, a life he hadn't led. He shook his head slightly.

"No. It doesn't matter who my biological parents were. I have Cortana. I have a sister who visits me and I have saved the galaxy multiple times over. I am nothing but grateful," he said resolutely. It is what he had always thought, he had never had a chance to think anything else. He had been chosen to save humanity, the highest calling and honor that could have been bestowed upon him. Having a child shouldn't be able to change that.

She could remember him as a little boy, remember telling him that his mother was gone and he was needed. He had mistaken her for a mother, it couldn't have been farther from the truth. She felt guilt in mentally claiming him as a son but couldn't help herself. She felt a surge of pride, of validation. She had chosen him and she had chosen well. He was hers in almost every sense. And now he was going to have a child, a child of the likes the world had never seen before.

"You're welcome," she said a little pridefully. His thankfulness served as validation to her. She had been right all along.

When he spoke it shook her from her thoughts. "Let's go inside and speak with Cortana, she's probably tired, she gets cranky when she's tired," he mumbled.

Halsey gathered her testing materials and followed him inside.

Cortana was fidgeting in her chair anxiously.

"What did you find?" she questioned urgently.

"Your daughter shares unique genetic markers with her father, what that entails I can't exactly say. I _can_ tell you that no other humans possess these characteristics. I think it would be best if I stayed here through the duration of your pregnancy to observe. You were right to call me, such a unique scenario would draw the interest of the entire medical community," Halsey mused.

"A daughter," Cortana sighed. She smiled a little bit at John, this was all so new but was definitely getting more and more exciting, even though it was still equal parts terrifying.

Cortana frowned, suddenly thinking about Kelly's baby. What were the implications of two Spartans having a child?

"What about Kelly and Fred?" questioned Cortana urgently, worried about her friend.

"_Kelly_ is having a baby?" asked Halsey with disbelief.

"_Kelly_ planned to have a baby, _this_," Cortana gestured to her abdomen, "was entirely unplanned."

"I'll be damned," said amazedly. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Anyways, Kelly and Fred will have a relatively normal child, though their combined genes should produce a very strong, healthy child. Your daughter, however, will be nothing short of an anomaly, a naturally born Spartan. Perhaps this is what the Librarian intended," she mused. The possibilities were endless.

Cortana looked at Catherine. She felt uncomfortable about the look on her face, as if she was about to discover some sort of prize. John seemed unphased but he didn't know her as well as she did. Maybe they had made the wrong choice in calling her here. She didn't know, all she had thought about was the safety of her child. She felt afraid. Though having a child seemed terrifying, she knew that she was already attached to the little speck inside of her.

"Time will tell, until then, I just want to observe and make sure that everything progresses well for you. I can check into a hotel tomorrow," she continued.

"No, Catherine," Cortana paused, feeling slightly awkward. "Please, stay with us. We don't mind, besides, it's only going to be what, seven more months?" She couldn't help but want her here, in part for the company and in part to keep an eye on her. Maybe it would be good for her to see John living the life they lived.

"Probably a little less, you're about ten weeks along," she was quiet. "We will see how long you want to put up with an old lady living in your house."

Cortana stretched and yawned. She tried to shake the uncomfortable feeling she had with a joke.

"You can help me plan a wedding then, you know John and I, we are very ostentatious," she gestured around at their cozy, modest home sarcastically as she walked towards their bedroom, "what's the old expression, knocked up? That. This knocked up teenager is going to bed."

Halsey looked over at John who had a somewhat exasperated look on his face.

"What's that about?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Cortana likes to make jokes about the fact that I'm at least thirty years older than her, claims that I 'robbed the cradle,'" he deadpanned.

"I have no idea where she gets some of that, I was much more reserved," mused Catherine.

"She is similar to you in some ways and very different in others," observed John.

"You think so?" she questioned.

"Yes. She is very much her own person."

Halsey was silent. Cortana was a direct product of her. Yes, she existed freely but undoubtedly she was a manifestation of her consciousness in some sense.

"John, come to bed, I'm lonely," Cortana called from their bedroom, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between the two of them.

John sighed and Halsey looked at him, a little bewildered as she watched the strong hardened hero of the UNSC stand up at the behest of his pregnant fiance. Cortana being bothered about her lack of autonomy surprised her. It didn't add up to her.

"If you need anything, please don't hesitate to wake me," he said, dimming the lights in the room.

"You are a surprisingly good host," she mused.

"I was raised right," he quipped as he walked down the hallway.

_Where in the world did he get that sense of humor?_ She had never, in all of her time knowing him, known him to have such a dry wit, though she supposed that he never had really had time for such things. He was extremely intelligent, as were all of her Spartans so it should've been no surprise to her that they were clever and even sarcastic, but in practice it was a little unnerving. It wasn't what he had been made for. He wasn't made for any of this, yet here they were. She felt uneasy.

It was even more unnerving to her when she heard Cortana giggling down the hallway.

"John, stop, I'm tired," she giggled as he ran his hand over her stomach and jokingly pinched at her sides, making her yelp comically.

She swatted his hand playfully. "I mean it, if the UNSC had known how capable I was as a warrior they would've said 'Sierra-11who?' I'll strike when you least expect it," she teased.

He couldn't help but smile at her light demeanor. He enjoyed her sarcastic remarks and her playful nature. After the emotions of the day it felt nice to be a little lighthearted

He ran his hand over her stomach again, he couldn't help it, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Nothing was _really_ different from yesterday but somehow everything was changed. He shouldn't be so surprised about what could change in a day-it'd happened to him many times before, but he was shocked all the same.

"How are you feeling?" he questioned quietly.

"I'm still kind of in shock. It was quite a day, after all, I found out I'm pregnant and got engaged," she mused.

"Mm," he agreed.

She dimmed the lights and laid back. "Speaking of which, what were you thinking of in the way of a wedding?"

He looked at her blankly. "Are you actually asking what my thoughts on a wedding ceremony are?"

"Well I don't know, maybe you have some sort of grandiose plan, doves, tulle, seven tiered cakes, don't hold back your innermost desires," she teased. She didn't see it but she knew he rolled his eyes.

"In all seriousness, I think we should do something simple. Invite only a few people, have it at some sort of resort, have dinner and drinks on us for everyone then spend a few days there. Preston Cole married an insurrectionist on this planet, I think it's a pretty common wedding destination and there are some great sights to see."

"That sounds nice," he agreed.

"Who do we invite?" she questioned.

John had no idea.

"Kelly, Fred," he stated.

"Duh," she said sarcastically. "add Catherine to the list of obvious guests. I'm stumped after them."

"Do we have to invite anyone else?" he asked, a little perplexed.

"I mean, I suppose not, but I feel like there's got to be a few others."

John thought on the Halo Campaign. Johnson was dead. Keyes was dead. Miranda was dead. Everyone was dead.

"Thel'Vadam?" he said, wondering what her reaction would be.

Cortana started laughing. "Oh my gosh, can you imagine? I suppose we could invite him, though I'm not sure how much he would get out of it, though Sanghelli do have marriage it's different. Humans have visited Sanghelios recently, perhaps it would be good. We'd have to get it cleared but I think it'd be entirely possible," she mused.

John thought upon the Sangheli. He was a true warrior and regarded him with great respect. He would pave the way for the new world they would inherit.

"Were it so easy," he mocked.

Cortana started laughing in earnest at this point. "John I didn't know you were so good at impressions."

"I'm not," he stated bluntly.

"Do an impression of me," she demanded.

"No."

"Yes," she argued.

"You're not going to let me sleep unless I do this, am I right?" he groaned.

He felt her nod and he sighed. "You do know you don't have to wait 'til the last minute just to impress me, right?" he mimicked, his voice the tiniest bit higher than his speaking voice but not enough to be too silly, he wasn't that committed to the impression.

She continued to laugh. She remembered saying that to him once. It was true, they had had a lot of close calls, she had to wonder at times if he was being a little dramatic.

She sighed. "Who else do we invite though?" she continued.

"I thought you were tired," he complained.

"I am but my mind is racing," she sighed.

John rested his arm above his head. "How about Lasky?" he questioned, getting drowsier by the minute.

"Ooh, that's a good idea, he was very kind to me despite my deteriorating condition on the Infinity. We should give him a plus one so he doesn't feel awkward though," she closed her eyes and sighed, "that's good enough for now, if we don't come up with more people by the end of the week we'll just send out invitations, or I guess I'll message Kelly and we can send an invite to Lasky," she laughed.

"Sounds fine to me."

"Mm," she snuggled up against him, getting ready to sleep.

"John?" she whispered.

"What," he said, a little exasperated at her restlessness.

"I'm sorry about how I acted today, I shouldn't have assumed you'd be angry with me, I was afraid myself," she spoke lowly, her shame showing in her tone.

"It's okay, I understand," he replied.

"Are you scared?" she whispered even more quietly.

"Of course," he said sleepily.

"What are we going to do," she sighed.

"Have a baby, I suppose," he said matter of factly.

"John, seriously," she prodded.

He groaned, he was really exhausted and wanted to sleep. "Aren't you the one who said that no one is a ready parent but it somehow works out?"

"I did say that," she replied sleepily, "you really do listen when I talk."

"Mm," he agreed.

"Goodnight John," she whispered.

He was asleep.

* * *

Like I said, little bit of a plot chapter. I like to think ultrasound technology would be that good in 500 years, haha. I take a lot of liberties with things like that.


	9. Chapter 9

"This is the absolute worst," Cortana groaned while she wretched into the toilet. A little over week had passed since she had found out that she was pregnant and she was very quickly growing weary of the entire thing.

Catherine leaned against the doorjamb, "Someone is knocking."

"I am a little otherwise-" she wretched, "preoccupied," she moaned. "It's a Sunday, it's probably just Kelly and Fred, no one else ever visits, they usually come over for breakfast on Sunday, please go let them in."

Catherine's heart sped up a little bit. She hadn't seen Kelly or Fred in so long, imagining them here with Cortana and John as friends and neighbors was also strange, it simply didn't fit into her perception of them.

She walked to the door and saw Fred and Kelly, they had aged well, they hardly looked a day over thirty, despite Fred's prematurely grey hair. They looked younger than John even though they were the same age.

"Doctor Halsey," greeted Fred.

They walked inside and saw how she had taken over the living room.

"Is something wrong with Cortana?" questioned Kelly worriedly. She hadn't heard much from Cortana over the past week which was rather uncommon-she was very chatty, especially when compared to anyone Kelly had ever spoken to.

"I'm here to observe her, she can't really go to a normal doctor."

Kelly snapped her head with an inhuman quickness towards the bathroom when she heard Cortana wretch loudly. Catherine was surprised when she saw Kelly walk quickly towards the bathroom. Her action was urgent, displaying great concern. She would've never imagined the two of them being close.

She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Frederic, would you like coffee?" she questioned.

"Yes please, thank you," he answered politely as he sat down across from the doctor.

In the bathroom, Kelly sighed and rubbed Cortana's back soothingly.

"I think I'm done for now," Cortana sighed. She got up and swished her mouth with water and ran a hand through her hair.

"I brought you something," said Kelly reaching into her purse.

They were a colorfully labeled package of lozenges.

"They're supposed to help with nausea," stated Kelly.

"Mm, give me twenty of them," joked Cortana ripping open the package and popping one into her mouth.

They walked into the kitchen together.

"These aren't half bad Kelly, thank you," she said, sucking on the lozenge.

"They got good reviews so I bought a few bags if you need more," she said calmly, pouring herself a cup of coffee and starting breakfast.

"Ugh, seriously you're not puking your brains out?" Cortana asked amazedly.

Kelly shook her head. "I feel great, actually."

"Bitch," Cortana muttered under her breath. Kelly laughed at her anguish.

John came inside with a bunch of vegetables and fruit from outside. He started washing things off and cutting them up for breakfast.

Catherine couldn't get over how surreal the entire experience was, seeing her Spartans, her perfect soldiers, eating Sunday brunch together, all of them about to be parents. It was not what she had envisioned, she had never anticipated that she'd live to see their retirement, or that there would be an entire Spartan branch of the UNSC to replace them. Even though she had her own personal qualms with said program, she could acknowledge that times were changing.

Breakfast was done and everyone dug into their food except Cortana who was mostly picking at her's disgustedly, clearly trying not to vomit.

"John, Fred and I are going up the mountain today, do you want to come?"

Catherine watched him look over at Cortana, seeking approval.

"Go ahead, I plan on puking intermittently through the day and in between trying to get some reading done, maybe entertain our guest," she said a little sarcastically.

"I'm quite capable of entertaining myself," Catherine drawled.

"Mhmm," sighed Cortana.

The Spartans left for their mountain hike and Cortana sighed.

"Is this what your day consists of, John goes out and spends the day outside while you read books?"

"You're so cynical," she sighed, folding a shirt, "I _have_ been doing some independent research on the Forerunner glyphs I managed to document," she paused, debating how much information she wanted to disclose, "Since I came back from the Domain, I've been fascinated by these, strangely enough, since John's encounter with the Librarian he's been able to read Forerunner glyphs so I've been running some of this by him, I'm close to figuring out a way to implement more efficient, precise slipstream travel," she ran a hand through her hair, "However, it doesn't matter because even though I'm more than likely the most brilliant mind in the galaxy I have no accreditation from any institution," she groaned.

"I can fix that," replied Catherine.

Cortana glanced at her, "I'm listening," she prodded.

"I'm an honorary faculty member at multiple institutions, if I pull some strings I can get documentation of you graduating from pretty much anywhere you'd want, present your work on Forerunner glyphs and knowledge as a thesis and it most surely could be applied to a PhD from MIT in astrophysics, if you actually can figure out how the Forerunner navigated intergalactic travel through the accurate use of slipspace," she said.

Cortana felt a rush of excitement. She had missed solving problems, constantly calculating impulses from John's mind to MJOLNIR had been only a small part of their team work, she missed the fast pace at times.

"I would love that, and of course I'm going to figure it out, I'm brilliant," she smiled arrogantly.

"You could become a Professor at any institution of your choosing via correspondence if you simply built an office equipped with the necessary satellite communications."

"All of my achievements are tied to the UNSC, in which I didn't technically serve," argued Cortana.

"Let me look into it," the Doctor replied.

"Why do you want to do this for me?" questioned Cortana quietly.

"Because you are brilliant, you deserve recognition for your work, you could advance mankind. I don't subscribe to any religion, but if there is fate you were fated to continue to exist as something other than a construct, science cannot explain everything and it cannot explain what happened to you. I place value in the unknown, just like I acknowledge that what is between you and John is something I cannot reason or explain, it is important, perhaps even to the advancement of mankind. "

Cortana's eyes widened. She'd never thought of it that way, never thought of her feelings for him as monumental even though they most assuredly were-she should've been limited to what Halsey's feelings for him were, she shouldn't have been able to evolve the way she had. John's encounter with the Librarian had changed him and her time existing in the Domain had changed her and gave her a corporeal form. There were endless possibilities.

"If there is a God, it exists in the Domain," agreed Cortana. She thought about her days on the Halo-Campaign, as an AI.

"I miss it sometimes, I think even more than John does," she sighed, sipping some more ginger water she'd made. "Not only do I miss the neurological connection I shared with John, knowing when and where he was going to move and moving with him, knowing everything about his being from his brain activity to knowing his heartbeat, I miss the feeling of power it gave me. I was always arrogant, my encounter with the Gravemind showed me how arrogant I truly was, but I still survived. I felt strong. Now I feel…" she paused, "terribly normal."

Catherine felt sympathetic to Cortana. She imagined that it was difficult, her vast intellect crippled by human constraints and living in the middle of nowhere. "John lost very little, he is not proud, he will go wherever he is needed. You, on the other hand, have my pride and ambition and I hate to see you not living up to your potential. You have never been, nor will you ever be normal," insisted Catherine. She spoke with a certain degree of arrogance. Cortana was a direct product of her intellect, she would never be normal.

"I am happy here, happy to see John. Hell, I'm happy to be having his baby even though it's beyond unexpected. I have no idea what kind of parents we're going to be, I look at Kelly and I can just see her as a mother, as odd as that may sound to you she's very good with children, she has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen. Even John, I can see him as a father, he's fiercely loyal and protective, strong and even playful when he feels like it. Out of all human experiences, I have the hardest time imagining myself as a mother," Cortana sighed.

Catherine understood. She had been a failure as a mother. Her daughter was dead.

Halsey, thinking upon families and children, couldn't help but ask, "how did you and John decide to get married?" It seemed so strange that they would choose such an institution.

She smiled softly at the memory. "When I found out I was pregnant I kind of lost it, I had all of these irrational thoughts, that John would be angry with me, that he'd even leave me, then he walks in the door and asks me to marry him," she laughed nervously. "It was as simple as that, when he wants things he usually figures out a way to make it happen."

Catherine tried to shake the impulse but couldn't, "Let me see," she said, as close as she'd been to gushing about anything in a while, grabbing Cortana's left hand to look at the ring. Her eyes widened. She had no idea that John would have the capacity to such thought into an entirely useless object.

"I had no idea he had such fine taste in jewelry," she said slightly in awe.

"I didn't either, not to say that I'd imagined this kind of scenario, but if I had had to imagine John buying me a wedding band I would've imagined something extremely practical and, well, Spartan I suppose."

"He is rather sentimental about most things though, now that I think upon it," murmured Catherine, adjusting the ring in the light to see the stone shimmer.

"What are you thinking about specifically?"

"After you sacrificed yourself, he carried around your chip and service tags with an almost religious devotion, he refused to surrender them. When he came to me asking for help finding you, he would hold them in his hand and stare at them." She remembered it well because it had been so unexpected.

"John…" she sighed. She hated thinking about him broken, lonely, and sad. She had hoped that he'd be able to move on without her but apparently even he wasn't that strong.

Cortana smiled warmly. "I really do know how to pick 'em."

* * *

Shorter interlude chapter, next chapter is longer. Thank you so much for reviewing, they seriously make my entire life. :D :D


	10. Chapter 10

This is one of my FAVORITE chapters I've written so I'm posting a little closer together than I normally do. When you guys review I get excited and post faster as well. Bwahaha. Enjoy!

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Kelly sprinted quickly up the rocky face of the mountain, her hands dug into the rock holds without a problem. She put all of her thoughts and feelings into the physical activity at hand.

Fred liked to climb slowly, he liked to observe from different viewpoints and contemplate the light and shadows created on the various faces of the mountain. Seeing from such a high vantage point gave him perspective on himself and the universe, which brought him peace.

John used physical activity to focus inward, to sort out his own thoughts. For years he had been used to hearing Cortana constantly, a running inner monologue. Now, it was quiet and he replaced the chatter with his own thoughts as he pulled himself up the mountain.

_I'm going to be a father._  
_What is a father?_  
_What do babies need?_  
_What do daughters need?_  
_Will she be safe?_  
_Can I make her safe?_  
_Will Cortana be safe?_  
_Will this hurt her?_  
_Have I hurt her?_

Climbing was interesting, it combined both endurance, strength and high intensity physical exercise all in one activity. John liked how it made him feel out of breath. It was hard to find physical challenges difficult enough for him, running was the easiest to satisfy, he could just run forty miles at a quick pace and he'd have to push to finish. It would remind him of when Chief Mendez would yell at them when they were little and he could tell when one of them wanted to give up during PT, he'd say things like "You're already hurting, it's not going to stop, make it mean something!" It was a physical strain he found relieving, comforting even. Even if there had been a military station nearby, he had ruined ODST gyms by trying to exercise among them. He had seen the specialized Spartan gym bays on the Infinity and had definitely been impressed-there were newer, denser metals that could be the size of a dinner plate and weigh as much as 500 pounds.

Those resources weren't available to him in the outer colonies. He probably could've purchased said equipment, but it seemed like such a hassle. Instead he tried to find challenges that he could create, either in nature or by simply pushing himself.

He pulled himself up to the summit where Kelly sat on top, staring down at everything below her. On many planets, they would've been high into the clouds but the atmosphere here made clouds higher up than average so they could see the view below them very easily.

She sat with her shirt pulled up, looking at her abdomen, tracing a finger over it mindlessly. On Cortana, the slightly raised bump on her stomach didn't look too strange-it blended in with the smoothness of her body and the softness of her hips which is why John really hadn't noticed much of a change until the past week. Kelly, on the other hand, had slim hips and hard muscle, her stomach looked almost as if it were bulging out of her, a hard, tiny, bump that was her forming child.

John couldn't help but stare at her a little bit. It was strange to see Kelly so enamored with something so simple. She pulled down her shirt slowly and continued to look off into the distance.

After about twenty minutes, Fred climbed up to the summit. He sat alongside Kelly and wrapped an arm around her waist. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and John couldn't help but feel lonely.

He remembered the time he had carried Cortana up this mountain. She had tried to keep up with him out of spite for a good part of it but when it had gotten to be too much, John picked her up without asking and carried her up. She threw a fit for part of the way, insisting she could make it on her own if he just gave her enough time, despite the fact that her face had been flushed bright red and she had broken out into quite the sweat while John hadn't even been breathing hard. When they had made it to the top of the mountain, she sighed and thanked him reluctantly even though she most definitely could've made it up herself. She had winked at him when she said that, her own way of joking at him.

She had fallen asleep on his back while they descended the mountain. He remembered dressing her in her nightgown, pulling back the covers of their bed and tucking her in she had been so exhausted.

"Fred, send the pod up to take a picture of all three of us up here," Kelly said lightly. She had really gotten into documenting as many things as she possibly could-she had shown John numerous photo albums she'd made just of the past few months. He had never seen so many pictures of himself. It was nice to document memories in some capacity.

John sat down next to them and looked at the hovering camera pod. He didn't smile, he seldom smiled artificially, like for a photo or when saying hello to someone, unless it had actually brought him joy.

Kelly didn't smile but her entire being emanated joy. He could feel her happiness, her anticipation. Cortana was the opposite. She was angry most of the week, he even found himself wanting to avoid her and her rapid mood swings when he'd never wanted to avoid her in his time knowing her.

"How are you feeling?" questioned Fred quietly.

"I feel better than I've ever felt. I feel fast, strong and excited. Doctor says I can continue to do the activities I enjoy until my third trimester, then I'll just have to limit my physical activity to more low-impact activity." she said smiling softly.

John started to worry. Why did Kelly feel so happy, healthy and enthusiastic while Cortana was nauseated and miserable? It seemed odd to think that Spartans were better at carrying children, that wasn't their purpose but here they were. John worried that his contribution would affect Cortana adversely, that their daughter would end up harming her. He thought upon exactly how breakable Cortana was.

"John?" questioned Kelly.

He shook his head, losing his train of thought.

"What?"

She looked at him confidently. "Don't worry about Cortana, she's going to be fine, everything she's experiencing is relatively normal for women in their first trimester of pregnancy."

Fred pressed a button and took a picture of John and Kelly together. The sun was setting and he liked the shadows it made on their faces. Kelly's face was angular, her jaw strong, her eyes wide set and her lips thin. She had random superficial scars that peppered her face. She was Fred's favorite subject. She was beautiful beyond compare in his eyes.

When they had embarked on the daunting process of starting a sexual relationship, he had been apprehensive to say the least. He had been able to appreciate that she was pleasing to look at but sexual attraction was a different thing entirely.

When they started treatment, things started to change for him very quickly.

Every tiny facial expression she made, the way the light would catch in her eyes, how her hair looked with wind tangling it, her long arms and legs, her pale skin, even the way she smelled all became daily realizations, daily things he discovered not only by seeing them but in his reactions.

One evening, perhaps two days after they had started the treatment, Kelly was in the bathroom. He watched her splash water on her face. She noticed his presence before she reached for a towel to wipe her face and the sight captivated him-the droplets of water clung to her eyelashes and wet her hairline, a few drops dripped from her upper lip and a few more crept down her neck and disappeared underneath her tank top to the hollow between her breasts.

He had never wanted anything so badly and it was an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

"Fred?" she had questioned him quietly, seeming a little nervous.

He moved towards her and touched her face, running his thumb over her lips, catching the water. Her eyes were wide in shock.

"What do you feel?" she whispered softly.

"Something," was all he could respond with.

She leaned towards him and kissed him softly. They had done this before, and it had often felt awkward, as if he were simply doing any other physical action tied to Kelly, were it shaking her hand or pushing her out of the line of fire, there had been no particular sensation attached to the action.

It was different this time. He deepened their kiss and grabbed her face. It went from being a tiny spark to an inferno, he couldn't control it, he was starting to feel desperate and the noises he was making were showing it, just from kissing her.

He started taking off her clothes. He didn't really know why, he just knew she was wearing far too much. She pulled off his shirt and continued to frantically kiss him. She bit and pulled at his lips and he couldn't even begin to explain why he found it so erotic, it simply was. He would've never even known how to describe it, it was physical and intuitive all of a sudden. She pulled off her own skirt and reached to unbuckle his pants.

They fell to the floor with a definitive sound and they both stared at each other.

The moment changed. There was confusion again. He realized that they were both naked, staring at one another. He had never looked at her body for its differences from his-she was a Spartan just like himself, her speed legendary. He looked at her figure and knew he wasn't thinking of her speed. It made him feel nervous and confused. Almost dazed.

She nervously looked at him, her apprehension palpable. They didn't speak as she turned on the shower water and stepped into the stream.

He felt so overwhelmed, looking at her with the water running down her body, in between her breasts and across her hips. It was something he'd seen before but never appreciated, never thought of it in this context.

She reached out her hand to him and he took it.

She pulled him towards her and into the water. She drew his hand to her face and closed her eyes, she brought his hand to her lips and dragged his fingers over them, moving his hand down the column of her throat and over to her breasts.

She pressed herself into him and he palmed her breast. She sharply took in breath.

"Please, do that," she whispered. He continued to touch her even when she roughly brought him to her mouth, kissing him so fiercely her teeth bumped against his. He could feel his body reacting to the sensation.

When she reached down and grabbed him he moaned audibly.

She was curious, he could tell as she touched him. She was fumbling and almost graceless but it somehow endeared him to her even more. He'd never felt anything so teasingly good, so completely wonderful yet incomplete.

Her face while she observed him was one he'd see before-she was assessing a challenge, weighing her options and planning her best strategy.

She had clearly chosen her plan when she pushed him against the wall of the shower and started moving her hand in earnest.

He knew what the sensation was, in his adolescence he'd had awkward, fumbling orgasms in the secrecy of the night before the urge had disappeared entirely-he supposed that it was only natural at the onset of puberty. This was something entirely different, having her see him this way, seeing his reaction and his vulnerability.

He stopped her when he was worried he'd finish. Soaking wet, they ran to their bed. She pulled him on top of her and kissed him with the same ferocity as earlier. She was so intense, so focused on what she wanted, it was her very nature but Fred couldn't help but feel surprised at the overall effect.

He broke away from her and looked at her. Her hair was wet and splayed all over their pillows. Her cheeks were rosy and her lips slightly swollen. He kissed her softly and slowly, enjoying how she felt against him, their bodies still wet and sliding against each other. They broke apart again and he looked into her eyes. This close up, he could see the variances in color between their eyes. The ocular enhancements gave an overall unifying appearance to the Spartan-II eye but he could see a lighter blue when he examined Kelly's eyes more closely. He had never seen this kind of look in her eyes. It was stunning to him, her intensity, her passion, everything about her he wished he could take into himself and make it part of him. She was so many things he was not. If he could, he would take a photo of this moment, of her eyes. Instead he looked at her, memorizing every detail, committing her gaze to memory so he would never forget.

"Is this what you want?" he couldn't help but ask. He wanted her. He knew that, in some sense, she wanted him too, but he had to be sure.

She took a deep breath and simply nodded.

He'd never done this before and had hardly thought of it even.

It was awkward. She even winced uncomfortably.

"Are you in pain?"

She simply looked at him as if to say 'I have run into explosions and gunfire, this is not painful,'

"No. Just, give me a second," she continued to squirm underneath him a little bit, trying to adjust properly to the foreign feeling.

She exhaled quickly and looked at him. "Okay, try again," she said.

As he moved, he could see her wince a little bit here and there, but it didn't seem as bad as before.

He could feel himself losing control, he tried to stop moving and she shook her head. "No, it's okay," she said quickly, reading his thoughts.

When he finished, he sighed. It had felt wonderful, but he couldn't help but feel guilty, until Kelly jumped out of bed quickly and did a handstand. She started doing press-ups, completely naked.

He normally didn't question her and her sometimes oddly spirited antics, but even he couldn't help but ask: "What in the world are you doing?"

"Read on a pregnancy forum that putting yourself upside down after sex can help conception, I think it's an old wives tale, but if anything it's fun," she laughed.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "You're not…upset?"

She continued to do her press-ups but craned her neck and looked at him, a perplexed expression on her face.

"Upset? Why would I be upset?"

"Because you didn't…" he felt awkward again.

"I think that's pretty normal, we'll work on it. For now I'm just happy to be with you, besides, it was still enjoyable," she smirked and he couldn't help but feel flushed. Even though they were both sitting in their bedroom naked while he watched her do nude press-ups, he still had the nerve to feel embarrassed.

She snapped quickly back up to her feet very quickly, like she did everything. She sprung herself onto their bed, shaking the whole frame. She was energetic almost to the point of hyperactivity. She had been that way since they were children, only slowing down when it was absolutely required. She had been punished when they were young for fidgeting almost constantly. A drill instructor had screamed himself hoarse when she fidgeted in formation. "Move that arm in formation again and I am going to take it as a threat, chop off that arm and beat you senseless with it!" Fred nearly chuckled at the memory. She was perhaps the most extroverted of all of them, and the most willful-she had tried to escape three times after being conscripted. It was still very apparent in her adult personality.

She sat on the bed and propped a pillow underneath her back, elevating her hips. He glanced at her.

"What? No science to prove it doesn't work, can't hurt," she teased, sensing his skepticism.

Fred looked at her up on the mountaintop with the man that he knew she considered her brother. He had always viewed John as an excellent leader and a brother-in-arms, but the relationship he and Kelly shared was special. Something in Kelly had changed, seeing him again. She had talked about him a long time while she had been on duty with the new Spartans-talked about how she knew he was alive, knew he was out there and how someday she swore she'd find him. When she had heard he went AWOL, she added onto that list-she swore she would punch him in the face. She hadn't done that. She'd simply wept over how much she had missed him and how much she still missed Sam.

Looking at them together, he felt that they could maybe use some time together. They would probably be short on it soon.

"I'm going to go back, I have some editing to do."

Kelly smiled and gestured for him to bend down. He did so and she kissed him. When she pulled away she whispered quietly in his ear, "thank you." Thank you for knowing what I need. Thank you for understanding me. These were the unsaid things Fred knew she meant with her gratitude.

Kelly sighed and looked off into the sunset.

"So, it's been a week, want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what," he intoned.

"Talk about how you're gonna be a dad," she smiled.

"Not much to talk about," he replied.

"Aren't you the least bit excited?"

He didn't speak.

"It is a lot," she agreed, reading into his silence "but for what it's worth, I think you'll be a great dad."

"What makes you think that?" he spoke.

"You're a great brother, for starters," she smiled at him and he couldn't help but feel his heart clench a little at her affection. "You're smart, you're kind, self-sacrificing, I think those are all great things for fathers to be. I know you don't have a memory of a father, besides Chief Mendez I suppose. I wouldn't recommend yelling that much, you'll age quickly," she laughed a little.

He leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. "It just seems strange. It was easy for me to just be with Cortana, I had been with her for so long, it was more accurate to say that she was a part of me than anything else. I don't know how to love a child. I don't think I've even seen a baby before, really. Or even a pregnant female for that matter."

"Well, your child will be a part of Cortana and you know how to love her, so you could start with that, but most of all I think you'll just know. You're the lucky one, remember?" she smiled softly at him.

She ran her hand over her stomach again, her face turning solemn.

"I haven't told Fred yet, but I'm naming this baby Sam. Samantha if it's a girl, Samuel if it's a boy," she said quietly.

In that moment, John could see all of the grief and loneliness she had felt in the years they had been separated.

"We made a good team, us three," she continued. "You're so serious, such an excellent leader, I would've, and still would, follow you anywhere. Sam was so...he was just so damn funny. He was so strong and he could do pretty much anything. He was loyal and he was a great friend and brother. He was such an idiot. I remember when I was recovering from our procedures and I was hearing rumors about me being washed out if I didn't recover within the week, he would come over to me and give me these crazy pep talks, he'd do things like literally yell directly at my legs to stop reacting like pansies and catch up with the rest of me."

"Oddly enough I remember that," he laughed a little bit. "I had a hard time with my eyes, I couldn't see for a while until it all snapped together. I remember hearing him running around like crazy, trying to get the two of us to quit puking and feeling like we had been run over by a Scorpion," John smiled at the memory. Sam had been so strong and refreshingly simple. He was the most loyal person John had ever known and his best friend before Cortana. His second command, he had taken bullets and thrown tanks for him. Sam would, and did, do anything for all of them.

"I think about him so much, I know that so many others have died and it's what he wanted, that he wanted to go out with a bang fighting but some days it's just so hard," she whispered, her voice wavering a little bit, "when I saw you again John, I could just see him, I could see us three together again, I know he'd be so goofy like he always was. Then I remembered he was dead. Every day I think about it, I wish I could just say "No," and get him back. Not all of us can look death in the eye and just say 'no', huh Chief?" she cried silently, just like she had the day Sam died. She was the only person he'd ever known who could cry nobly, cry without looking broken. Kelly was a woman who could wear tears and seem stronger, fiercer. He had always admired her ability to let her feelings make her stronger, it was very different from his natural reaction to emotion. She would take her love and grief for Sam and let it make her an amazing mother.

"He'd be happy that we are together now," John said quietly. It was an odd thing to say, to hypothetically speak of the dead but it felt right somehow. John knew it was true.

She didn't speak, but she nodded, reached over and grabbed his hand. She found comfort in knowing he understood, knowing that he missed their brother too.

They sat like that, silently until the sun set and the stars came out.

They climbed down the mountain quickly, jumping large distances partly to save time and partly for the rush it provided.

When they had reached the base, Kelly looked over at John. They both had no trouble seeing in the darkness, he could easily see her slightly pained expression.

"Are you going to be okay?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I think so. It's nice to talk sometimes. At least for me," she smiled. "You usually let Cortana do most of the talking, don't you?"

"She doesn't let me get a word in edgewise," he stated dryly.

Kelly smiled softly. "She has been an invaluable friend to me."

"She is special," John replied simply.

"I know I told you this once before, but I really mean it when I say I understand why you'd tear apart the entire galaxy and abandon everything for her. When I had heard about you going missing, I was angry. I couldn't believe you would abandon your duties and the mission the way you had. It makes sense now. She has become dear to me," she looked off into the direction of her home, "I'm going to go sleep, I've been needing more sleep than usual," she paused and her face took on the same softness he associated with Kelly, an intangible goodness that in part defined her.

"Goodnight, John," she said softly.

"Goodnight Kelly."


	11. Chapter 11

A short-ish fluffy chapter but a chapter I enjoy all the same. le sigh- oh Halo, how I adore thee. Hope you all enjoy, thank you those of you that review, it seriously brightens my day! You guys are my stars. lol.

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John ran home quickly-even though Cortana's moods were rather volatile, he missed her presence and her chatter.

The house was quiet as he walked in.

"Cortana?" he called.

"Bedroom," came a distracted reply.

He walked into their bedroom and saw Cortana sitting cross-legged on their bed. She had four diagrams and holographic projections floating around her. One was of Forerunner glyphs, another of an engine and the other of what appeared to be slipspace ruptures occurring, on a loop. He could tell she was frustrated.

"The Forerunner had a much vaster knowledge in their understanding of slipstream space. If I could just figure out a few more things, I would be able to create an engine that would be able to travel intergalactically, completely revolutionizing...well, everything," she paused, "but I am having a difficult time interpreting some of it. I'm relying largely on what I learned about the Halo Array-the Halo Array was capable of firing into slipspace, affecting targets both in the first dimension of space and slipspace," she sounded almost like she was talking to herself.

"I'm close, I know it. It would lead to slipspace jumps that are actually accurate and didn't take months on civilian vessels that aren't manned with smart AIs, which is far too expensive with technology as it is. This would potentially change that. I've already compiled more information on slipspace and the seven dimensions than any living individual, but I am struggling with how to implement it into a device that could accurately produce results," she trailed off.

He watched her stare in deep thought as she rearranged numbers and symbols. He went and washed up for bed, brushing his teeth and showering the grime of the mountain off of himself. He listened to her murmur to herself while she worked, he found it pleasant.

He walked out of the bathroom, draped only in a towel and changed into his sleeping clothes. She didn't even glance at him like she normally would, she was clearly focused.

He went and sat on their bed. The light from the projections cast her in a blue light. He was finding himself fixated on her and her resolved expression to figure out whatever she was trying to work out. John considered himself intelligent but whatever she was working on went way over his head.

As subtly as he could, he went behind her so she was sitting between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and ran his hands down her sides and continued down to the tops of her legs.

She still managed to focus on her work.

John was starting to feel a little frustrated. He normally didn't get so restless but he also wasn't used to being ignored entirely by her. Perhaps it was a little childish, to want her attention the way he did.

"It's dark out," he murmured.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," she replied distractedly, expanding a diagram of a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. He rested his chin on her shoulder and continued to trace circles on the tops of her thighs.

"I can't make sense of this," he said after a minute of trying to decipher what she was working on as she wrote an equation with her fingertip.

"Quiet, I'm working, I'll get to you in a minute," she murmured. "And of course you can't make sense of it, you're not a meat bag but this is way over your head," she said almost as an afterthought.

Oh. She was in that kind of mood. He would remember to point out how she couldn't reach the top shelf in the kitchen. _She's not that short but the shelf is definitely over her head,_ he thought to himself. It was usually best when he kept those kind of comments to himself.

She really was in no mood. She arranged a few other things around and sighed exasperatedly. After about twenty minutes, she grabbed all of the projections and threw them aside, finally losing patience. John heard the computer automatically power down.

"Frustrating. I don't know why I'm working so hard on this," she sighed rubbing her temples and leaning back into his chest.

He started rubbing her neck gently.

"Mmmm, that is nice," she sighed.

"I can be nice," he said quietly.

"I know you can, I love seeing you try so hard," she teased.

"I bet you do," he commented dryly. He knew that she rather enjoyed frustrating him when she could. It was a difficult task, he was an extremely patient person, and her patience wore thin much more quickly than his own. When she had an opportunity to make him uncomfortable or even slightly irritated she savored it, she found it almost comical.

She grabbed his hand that wasn't rubbing her neck and brought it to her mouth and kissed it.

"You're really quite sweet, no one besides me would guess it but my data is conclusive," she tilted her head and kissed him. He ran his hand through her hair loving how smooth and soft it was. He'd missed her, he hadn't held her or kissed in a while, having a guest was distracting and preoccupying.

"Cortana, I've-"

They froze. Cortana slowly pulled away from John, trying to avoid the flustered appearance of a teenager caught red handed. They were grown adults and in their bedroom, they had nothing to be embarrassed about...even though the situation was awkward.

Dr. Halsey stood in their bedroom door, carrying a tablet and a glass of water.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize John had come home and I had something for you," Dr. Halsey didn't seem too phased but it was still a relatively uncomfortable scene.

"No, it's fine, I should shut my door. Or get an office. Perhaps both," she sighed and fought the blush creeping up her neck. She still leaned back into John's chest, not really feeling like moving from the comfortable spot she was in.

"I took the liberty of printing this, for the both of you," she said, walking into their room and handing Cortana a digital square picture. It cycled through the images Halsey had shown of their daughter.

Cortana smiled.

"Thank you, this is," Cortana paused, "this is really wonderful." She was slightly surprised at Catherine's consideration.

John looked over her shoulder and ran his hand over her stomach again, almost without thinking about it.

"See look John, little toes already, she has ten, that's good, she's normal that way," she chuckled.

"I see," he observed. He could see tiny fingers starting to form and even where her eyes would be. At this point, the picture looked like a tiny alien.

"She looks like a little fish," he observed.

Cortana laughed, "You did not just call our daughter a little fish."

"She is 'breathing' amniotic fluid right now so John has a point," concurred Halsey.

"Well then she's my fish," pouted Cortana, "It's okay, mommy loves you even if you look like a little Unggoy freak right now," she cooed sarcastically.

Catherine couldn't help but chuckle.

"I wouldn't go _that_ far," said John.

"Everything looks fine still, I'm thinking we'll place your due date around March 23," Catherine stated glancing at her notes.

Until this moment, John hadn't even thought of how the baby would get out. Or when. Or where.

"What do you want for when you have the baby?"

Cortana sighed, "In all honesty, I'd prefer to just be at home unless something truly terrible happens. Dr. Halsey is just as equipped as any doctor or hospital unless the baby is born extremely early or something, but we'd have time in advance to plan for that if the situation arose."

This sounded nice to John. He wasn't a fan of hospitals. Too many sick people. He looked to Dr. Halsey to try and gauge her opinion.

"I think that's fine, but if you're expecting me to hold your hand through this whole thing you're out of luck, I have terrible bedside manner, and while I have everything here needed to save the life of either you or the baby, I'm no anesthesiologist, so if you even think about wanting some sort of pain management you're going to be in a hard place. The only thing I'm prepared for is a complete spinal block in the event that I had to perform a caesarean section, which I know is something you're not hoping for," she replied.

"I'll be fine," stated Cortana.

"You say that now but I don't think you've really experienced pain like this before, you'll find yourself shocked at how painful it truly is," stated Catherine smoothly.

John hadn't thought about this. He'd experienced plenty of painful things, oftentimes refusing sedation because he hated the drowsy side-effects he experienced afterwards. He hadn't thought about the fact that childbirth was notoriously painful.

She shrugged, "Well, I guess I'm going to experience it, no way around it."

Cortana could be exceedingly blunt at times. She was stubborn in a different way from John. The expression 'my way or the highway' came to mind.

Catherine rather suddenly bid them goodnight and went to go change in the second bathroom. She splashed her face with water and sighed. She supposed that the baby had to have gotten there somehow but it was strange to think about. She had assumed that the conception of their child had been an isolated incident-her Spartans should have had little to no sex drive. Surely they would have maybe been able to perform the act but the psychological processes that lead to physical arousal should have proven a challenge.

That wasn't what she had seen. John was very clearly taken with her. Him kissing her wasn't what had made her uncomfortable, kisses could be as exciting as a handshake. No, it was the way he held her, the way he ran his hand through her hair and the tenderness he afforded her. It was the intensity between them that made her uncomfortable. It shouldn't have been possible.

What disturbed her more was what it represented. The way he looked at her was without restraint, he very clearly loved her with everything he was. It was odd. She never could've imagined that he would've been able to transfer his undying sense of duty and service to a woman. Even now, she was a human woman, exceedingly intelligent but, overall, breakable. John shouldn't have been able to love her the way he did. She was missing something-a variable in the equation that she didn't know yet. Even stranger were Cortana's deep feelings for him. She wondered when and how they had evolved in such a way.

Her mind couldn't cease to imagine the possibilities. What if when she had said that her work, the Spartans, were the next step for humanity as a species she had been more right than she'd ever known? This child could change the world just as much as her mother and father had.

This colony was not without its charm. It was a temperate climate, the seasons changed and there were many natural wonders-waterfalls, mountain ranges, springs and rivers, it was nice enough.

She crawled into the bed and stared at the ceiling with thoughts of the unknown playing through her racing mind.


	12. Chapter 12

Quick update since the last chapter was short and I have become addicted to reading reviews. Lol, that sounds ridiculous but yeah. I really like this chapter, it makes me happy.

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A few weeks passed and they proceeded to go on with their lives normally, despite a guest and a pregnancy. Kelly was over watching Cortana flip through wedding pamphlets.

"You want to invite a _Sanghelli_ to your wedding?"

Kelly was perplexed.

"On the Halo Campaign John and Thel'Vadam developed a kinship. I wouldn't call them friends but they have profound respect for one another. He is good, he has a great vision for what the galaxy could be. I don't know if it'll be possible but I think it would make for a gesture of good faith. Lord Hood has been to Sanghelios, learning their culture and language, perhaps it would be good for an Elite to attend a human wedding," said Cortana, flipping through a resort catalog.

"What do you think of this room," she questioned.

Kelly was still stuck on the fact that an Elite was being invited to a wedding here. She had killed Elites. She had seen Elites kill UNSC soldiers.

"I don't like it either," said Cortana ignoring Kelly's lack of a response and flipping through another booklet.

Cortana sighed, still seeing that Kelly was shaken by the inclusion of the Arbiter in their wedding planning.

"Look, Kelly, if a Sanghelli at our wedding is going to upset you, take it up with John. He has his reasons and I'm sure he can explain himself better than I could," she huffed.

"That being said, I need you to focus that Spartan brain of yours on helping me make some decisions about this wedding thing-I am determined to do this before I am visibly huge so the clock is ticking. I made an appointment to do the whole 'dress' thing later this afternoon." Cortana sighed. Her belly visibly protruded, she had purchased actual maternity clothes at this point. She was determined to have this wedding before next week was out. She had sent out all four of the invitations, and had yet to buy a dress, a wedding band for John, shoes or really anything. They were going to just go to the resort's restaurant afterward for drinks and celebration, nothing too organized and everyone could just order food they wanted.

Kelly nodded, she would talk to John later about her qualms with the Sanghelli.

"I think you should have the ceremony outside-Fred and I were married in front of a bunch of strangers in a decorated hanger. You should have it at sunset and I think you should wear ivory, it will compliment your skin and look good in photographs," she said simply.

Cortana thought for a moment. "You're really good at this, have you been sitting home over your summer break watching wedding programs?"

Kelly blushed a little bit. She may or may not indulge in bad programming when she took a bath. And when Fred was gone. And maybe a few other times. She also may have seen a few outer colonies wedding specials.

Cortana started laughing. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she winked.

"Is Dr. Halsey coming with us shopping?"

Cortana sighed. "That's a hard one for me. She created me and I am a part of her, she is the closest thing to a mother I will ever know, and yet there are differences between us that are...difficult. I've always felt that she resented me, at least in some capacity. I don't think she would really be interested in clothes shopping. I think she will want to be more involved with anything with the baby but that involves both you and myself and honestly I think she has some issues wrapped up in John having a child with me," rambled Cortana.

"Like what?" questioned Kelly.

Cortana had been feeling slightly uneasy about Catherine's presence. She couldn't help that while she was being taken care of she was being observed more than treated. Little comments here and there, awkward silences where she could tell Catherine's mind was racing. She couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive.

"I can't really put my finger on it. She makes the mistake of assuming that she and I are exactly the same when my time as an AI and the experiences I had on the Halo Campaign and thereafter changed me-structurally, we have the exact same thought processes, but we don't always arrive at the same conclusions about everything. She has a lot of feelings wrapped up in John particularly. I know that she views him and I as the culmination of her life's work. It bothers me. This baby is a physical manifestation of the relationship John and I have, and that's unnerving for her, and at the same time, she can't help but want to know 'who is the daughter of John-117,'" Cortana paused, "and I have an answer to that question, she's my daughter, the rest is all details."

Kelly had never really thought about the relationship between Dr. Halsey and Cortana and the problems it could present.

"What are the concerns with your pregnancy that you need to be observed so intently?" Kelly had been wanting to know for a long while but hadn't felt bold enough to ask.

"How far along are you, Kelly?"

"Twenty-one weeks," Kelly glanced down at her stomach that very obviously bulged forward.

Cortana smiled. "Me too,"

Kelly was perplexed. Already, Cortana's stomach was already significantly larger than her's.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I considered the possibility that John's experience on Requiem with the Forerunner Librarian had not only made him immune to composition but incorporated all of his augmentations into his genetic make up. It's only been a hypothesis of mine, but so far it's pretty sound," she laughed.

"So she'll be…like a Spartan?" questioned Kelly feeling a little dumbfounded.

"I don't know how much of me there will be and how much of John, but she's already big. We won't really know until she's born but there is potential for her to be strong enough to really hurt me. We couldn't explain this kind of thing to a normal doctor so we went to the only person we knew we could trust," she sighed and ran a hand over her stomach nervously.

Kelly felt scared for her friend. She had read extensively about pregnancy and childbirth when she had decided she wanted to be a mother. Perhaps she would've been able to carry such a strong, large baby easily but Cortana was average in stature.

"You are right to trust Dr. Halsey, you are in the best hands possible," stated Kelly almost as if she were trying to convince herself as well.

Cortana smiled. "I agree with you, I think everything will turn out fine. But I'm getting more and more tired, which is why I want to get this whole wedding thing taken care of, so let's go pick out a dress."

They drove into town, it was a very busy day and it took them a while to find somewhere to park.

Kelly got the stares she was accustomed to and even some waves from students and parents. They took an elevator up to the bridal salon. It was bright, very well lit.

"Hi, my name is Astor, did you have an appointment?"

Cortana shifted on her feet a little.

"Yes, 1500 for Cortana," she felt a little uncomfortable and she didn't really know why, it was just a kind of odd experience.

"Oh I see you right here, I'll be working with you today and this is..?" she gestured to Kelly.

"I'm Kelly," she reached forward and shook the woman's hand. Strangely enough, the woman didn't gawk at her height too much.

"And are you two friends, sisters?"

"She's going to be my sister-in-law," explained Cortana.

"That's so wonderful that you two get along so well, are we both shopping?"

"No-"

"Yes!" exclaimed Cortana. Kelly looked at her.

"Let John and I get something nice for you," she smiled.

"You really don't have to do that, I have a pension and work," said Kelly softly.

"We know that, we would just like to do something nice for you. Besides, John was an E-9 who had an AI checking finance's systems to make sure he was getting every cent of incentive pay he was entitled to, even the ones you have to apply for which, of course, Spartans just don't do."

She was right. Kelly had hardly even understood that she was being paid for a very long time, she hadn't cared. She most certainly hadn't thought of applying for something as superfluous as incentive pay.

"Okay," she acquiesced.

Cortana smiled brightly.

"Okay, so let's start with the bride, tell me about your wedding," the consultant had a stylus and was taking notes.

"Very very small, less than ten people. We're going to the falls resort and getting married at sunset, then having dinner with our guests. Very simple," emphasized Cortana, looking warily at dresses on display that had sheer cutouts and wire frames.

"Also, I'm four months pregnant," Cortana stood up and pulled her shirt a little tighter.

"Oh my gosh I couldn't really tell with how you were sitting. You're going to want something comfortable. How long until the wedding?"

"Week and a half from today," she said

"Okay, so that's entirely doable, what are you envisioning?"

They proceeded to talk about various dress trends and styles. Cortana was learning very quickly that she didn't like lace or beading, she didn't like puffy skirts. They decided on a very simple design, it would have an empire waist and delicate off the shoulder cap sleeves with a subdued sweetheart neckline. The part she was most excited about was the beautiful ivory silk she had picked out-it was easily the most expensive part of the dress. It felt so soft and light, she'd never experienced something of such high quality really, besides her ring.

They started taking her measurements.

"If you could add a few inches for good measure around my belly," Cortana suggested.

"You said your wedding was in a week and a half," the seamstress commented.

"Trust me, we're going through a bit of a growth spurt right now, it'll be for the best. If you have to take it in the day before we'll pay for it, I'd just rather account for more," she insisted. The seamstress looked at her like she was a little crazy but Cortana didn't really care.

Kelly was looking through a book of dresses and ideas.

"So do you have anything you'd like to see your future sister-in-law in?"

Cortana thought it was a little odd they were asking her but she supposed that plenty of brides were much more controlling than she was.

"I mean, I want her to like it, but you know what, I want it to be really sexy," Cortana's eyes lit up mischievously.

Kelly raised an eyebrow. "I'm four months pregnant," she said dryly.

"Nothing sexier than a pregnant lady, baby had to get there somehow," teased Cortana. Kelly flushed bright red and gave her a look that screamed 'stop that!' Then her expression softened a bit and Cortana could tell she was deep in thought, she needed a push.

"Come on, you've never worn a sexy dress, just think of how good it would look, I'm sure you'll like it and Fred too," she said smoothly.

She saw Kelly fidget slightly but look over to her. "I don't know, what are you thinking?"

They paged through the booklet together and Cortana was easily more excited about finding Kelly something than her own wedding dress. They came to a section that had dresses made entirely of stretchy, form-fitting fabric ribbons that looked like bandages.

"You would look beyond hot in one of these, you have to wear one of these," Cortana gushed.

"I'm not sure," Kelly said, eyeing the hologram of the dress warily.

"Oh come on, a bio-suit is just as revealing and you practically lived in those."

"Most of the time under armor," argued Kelly.

"I think it'll look really good," Cortana whined. Kelly looked at the picture and had to admit, the dress was definitely fun, she'd never worn anything like it. It plunged into a deep V in the front and looked like it would hit slightly above her knee. The idea of being sexy seemed like it might be fun, she'd never worn a dress for the express purpose of sex appeal.

"You're paying," she caved. Cortana grinned. Kelly ended up picking a subdued yet sharp cobalt blue, she thought it would go well with the sunset in the evening. It reminded her of Cortana's ring and even the subtle sheen to her hair.

"Shoes for both of us," Cortana picked a soft, plain heal that would be comfortable despite her pregnancy.

Kelly's eyes, however, were drawn to some much bolder shoes. Cortana was absolutely floored when she picked a strappy pair of stilettos.

Cortana's dress would be done tomorrow. Kelly's was in stock and just needed length so she tried it on.

"Do you have those shoes in her size?" questioned Cortana a little urgently, eyes not leaving Kelly.

"Oddly enough we do, let me go find them." She went into a backroom and came back with the shoes.

"I have to say I've never had a pregnant lady buy these," she laughed as she handed them to Kelly who went into the changing room awkwardly. Cortana could tell she felt strangely about the entire affair.

Cortana waited for Kelly to get done changing. It was taking her much longer than she had expected.

"Do you need some help?" Cortana teased.

"I can dress myself, thanks Mom," said Kelly sarcastically. Cortana giggled to herself.

When Kelly finally stepped out from behind the dressing room curtain, Cortana gasped.

She was floored. She knew that Naomi-010 had been colloquially referred to as a Valkyrie. Kelly was surely an Amazon right out of Ancient Greek mythology-she could have been Hippolyta, the queen of all the Amazons-she looked so regal, almost as if she were carved out of marble and every bit the fierce warrior she was while still managing to have a softness that was so entirely Kelly.

The blue fabric and the way it hugged her figure was nothing short of stunning. The consultants in the store stopped what they were working on with other clients to simply look at her. Soon everyone in the boutique was looking. Cortana didn't even see jealousy from other women, just sheer amazement at the 6'10'' pregnant woman and her very presence, she looked so out of place in the most surreal way possible.

Kelly's initial reaction was to feel awkward and even a little timid. She looked at herself in the mirror and her eyes immediately tracked to her scars. She had never worn anything that showed this much skin. She had some rather gruesome burns that had been treated very haphazardly leaving some scarring up her shoulder and onto one of her arms in addition to her surgical scarring from what seemed like a lifetime ago. She caught herself quickly and stopped her self-critique.

_No. I am a Spartan. I am proud of who I am. I am perfect the way I am. I am special and I am different. I will not hide_, she thought to herself, standing up even straighter. She took a few strides in the tall shoes. It wasn't as hard as she had thought it would be, in fact it was quite fun.

"You have to wear that. I can't even begin to say how much you need to wear that," said Cortana quietly, still amazed at the transformation a dress could provide.

Even though Kelly was modest, Cortana could tell she was definitely admiring herself in the mirror.

"You look hot. There is absolutely no other way to describe it. I think you're as tall as John in those heels," she commented. "Your legs look like they never end, you're just all leg. Do a twirl," demanded Cortana.

Kelly took a few steps and jokingly spun on her heel. Cortana knew she was joking around but it was yet another moment that the physicality of the Spartan came through-she moved with such grace and precision that her twirl had looked like it could have belonged on any stage. She remembered what it had been like to move like that with John, her own human body felt clumsy in comparison.

"I'm definitely taller than Fred in these, that's fun," she mused, "I need to get more shoes like these," she smoothed her hands from her waist down over her hips, entirely enjoying what the dress did for her silhouette.

Pregnancy had definitely started filling her out in places she'd never really thought of, but she definitely liked the look. "Be honest, has my ass gotten big since I've been pregnant?" she quipped sarcastically as she looked over her shoulder.

"Kelly don't even talk to me about having a big ass, I've got you beat there. If by big you mean your ass is absolutely glorious then, yes, it has gotten glorious since you've been pregnant, along with your boobs," said Cortana smirking.

Kelly laughed.

Cortana quickly paid the bills for both of them and scheduled the fitting of her dress the day before the wedding. She was far more excited for Kelly's ensemble than her own though.

"I have to admit, you were right about the dress," said Kelly smiling with satisfaction.

"_Someone_ is getting lucky on my wedding night and I am _not_ talking about me," she teased.

Kelly swatted at her arm playfully, "stop that," she laughed. Despite the fact that she was pregnant and had rather frank discussions with Cortana about sex it seemed even stranger to discuss sex now that she was having it. It wasn't shameful or anything it was just something she didn't feel particularly frank about like Cortana seemed to much of the time. Perhaps Cortana was just blunt about most things.

"John and I are meeting at the jewelry store, do you want me to drop you off at your house?"

"No it's fine, I would like to run and we're not far from where I live anyways," she waved as she got out of the car and started casually jogging.

Cortana quickly parked the car and found John waiting for her outside of the store. He looked a little surly and she assumed it was because he didn't want to go into a jewelry store again.

She smiled when she saw him, ran up to him and hugged him. She tiptoed as high as she could to give him a quick kiss.

"What's that for?" he said.

"I haven't really seen you today and I know you're not looking forward to this. We'll be quick, I have a plan of attack," she schemed.

"You always have a plan."

"Yep. So here's how it's going to go. We're going to make a direct shot to the men's section, you're going to pick out something you don't hate and then we're going to tell them to just make a band to match my ring for me. Easy."

"What kind of hardware can we expect from opposing forces?"

"Smoothtalkers and schmoozers, be ready to intimidate, Chief, it's going to be a long haul if we get caught up in there, we're a sitting target, engaged couple and I'm pregnant to boot-they will be aggressive and ready to strike but easily confused, a lot like Brutes," she said seriously.

He cracked a smile at that. They walked into the store. John picked out the most simple gold band he could find very quickly-it was self polishing and a strong alloy so he was satisfied.

Cortana showed her ring and asked for a simple, plain band to match.

"What would you think about some smaller bits of the center stone on the band," asked John quietly.

"John…" she trailed off.

"Your fiance has great taste, I think it'd look superb, it'll clear out the colony for what we have of this gem, I can give you a discount for using the smaller stones," the jeweler spoke quickly and determinedly, Cortana had to admire how much he wanted a commission.

When Cortana saw what it'd look like she sighed a little. John smirked, satisfied with her reaction. He knew she would never ask for anything more elaborate outright but he could tell when she liked something.

"Do that," he said shortly. He tapped his credit chip on the counter before Cortana could even argue.

"We'll be in to pick those up the day before our wedding," he said quickly, clearly trying to leave.

Cortana couldn't help but giggle at how quickly he sped out of the store. The sun had started to set creating shadows amongst the tall buildings of downtown.

"I'm hungry, do you want to go out to dinner?" Cortana asked.

It was something they'd never done, it'd always seemed frivolous and cumbersome.

"Where would we go?"

Cortana pulled out her tablet and asked for restaurants.

"How about there?" she said picking something randomly.

They started walking in the direction of the restaurant. She couldn't help but hold his arm as they walked. It was nice to just walk around with him, to feel his warmth and presence.

The restaurant they walked into was clearly a little fancier than they were dressed so they were seated in the lounge area which was preferable to them anyways.

John read the menu and was amazed at how much thought people could put into food-he had subsisted in the field off of terrible rations and MREs, food wasn't something he put much thought into, it was practical, not for the sake of enjoyment.

"Have I told you how much I love food?" gushed Cortana.

She was very enamored with any experience that involved her senses.

"We should do a sample of everything," she proclaimed.

"That sounds fine to me," he said, slightly relieved about not having to make a concrete decision with so many options.

The waiter came and went through the evening and they really enjoyed their time together. It was fun to have someone bring them food and drinks, take dishes and replace them with different things.

John watched Cortana happily picking at her food when she set down her fork, a shocked look overcoming her face.

"What is it?" John was curious what could have possibly distracted her from the cake she'd been eating.

"I think...I think I felt the baby move," she said excitedly. She jumped again when she felt the same nudge again but stronger. "John come over here," she exclaimed.

She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. His hand nearly covered her entire belly.

"Wait for it, she'll do it again," she said excitedly. They waited to no avail. John couldn't help but feel the slightest bit disappointed.

Cortana frowned. "She's being stubborn like her daddy, here," she took his hand and pressed firmly into her belly.

Right as John was about to pull his hand away, he felt it, a tiny little hit. His eyes widened.

"Freaky, right?" she laughed.

He didn't speak, just thought. She could move now, or at least he could perceive her moving, who knows how long she had been up to it before this point. It was unsettling-It brought her even more into reality. That being said, it was exciting-she could kick and move around, she could let him know she was there.

"I'm excited to meet her," he said quietly.

They quickly paid their bill and walked to their car in a comfortable silence. They pulled up to their home and got out of the car. As John was about to open the door and head inside, Cortana spoke.

"John?"

He turned to look at her.

"Could we...Could we look up at the stars together for a while?" she asked bashfully as if it was an absurd request.

He took her hand in his own and they went over to the long grass by their home. They laid down and sat there quietly for a few minutes. A warm breeze blew the grass and Cortana couldn't help but sigh.

"I never could have appreciated the vastness and beauty of the world we live in before," she said quietly.

"Me either," he agreed. He had had one moment where he had had perspective-seeing the Milky Way Galaxy from the Ark. That had been amazing and awe-inspiring but mostly motivating. It had been at risk, he had needed to save it.

"It's funny, we spent so long defending mankind and humanity...I didn't really know what humanity meant until fairly recently," she reached over and grabbed John's hand and placed it on her stomach.

The moment stretched on. He felt a slight press against his palm and then a sharp kick. He looked over at Cortana, her eyes were bright with excitement. "Moments like these," she was whispering almost as if she were trying to preserve the moment, "are what make me know that I'm real. That this is all happening. I could have never imagined my life with you."

John thought about her words. Even though their situations had been different, he could relate to her words. There were very few times he had felt so alive, so present in a single moment. Life had gone by as a blur, an intense, brutal and amazing blur until it had slowed and shifted into this, these moments where he felt every bit the man that John could be.

"What do you think she'll be like?" Cortana whispered.

John didn't answer right away. It was easy for him to ascribe vague qualities to her, tall, strong, tiny, innocent...they all didn't really mean anything unless attributed to a person.

"Perfect. In every way," was the best answer he could give. She would be perfect for them because she was a part of them. She would be perfect because she would be theirs.

She kicked at him again.

Cortana laughed, "Seems like she agrees with her father."

"Have you thought of any names?" Cortana asked.

He really hadn't, it was hard for him to even imagine naming anything-things were what they were, though obviously he wouldn't just call her daughter.

"No," he paused, "Kelly is naming her baby Sam. Samantha for a girl Samuel for a boy."

"What do you think about that?"

John hesitated, "I don't want to name our daughter after someone we knew. It's too much to put on someone. A burden."

"What kind of names do you like?"

"I don't know."

"I like names that have meaning. I want our daughter to be empowered by her name, I want it to mean something to her."

"I'll think on that over the next few weeks," he said.

A meteor streaked quickly across the sky.

"Cortana," he spoke lowly.

"Hmm," she was so relaxed she could almost fall asleep.

"I love you."

He seldom said those words. It seemed unnecessary. He'd rather prove his devotion to her, day in and day out than simply speak words to her. But when he was laying with her under the stars, his hand on her belly with their daughter kicking at his hand, he couldn't help but feel that telling her was right.

She ran her hands over his hand, twining their fingers, "I love you too," she replied simply.

He helped her get up and they quietly walked back inside. John guided Cortana through the darkness-Catherine was already asleep and they didn't want to wake her when John could see in the very low light either way.

Cortana fell asleep right away, a rarity for her. She was truly content.

* * *

Squee. Too much fluff I know but I couldn't resist. Also Kelly it tots wearing Herve Ledger. I couldn't resist, it seems so futuristic and sexy and perfect and Kelly is a goddess among women. #inspiration (lol.) I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I do, it makes me happy.


	13. Chapter 13

I'm starting to think that I think all of my chapters are fun...I love them all for different reasons, haha! I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The morning of the wedding, Cortana was not feeling well. Her skin itched, she felt like she was going to the bathroom all of the time, her feet felt swollen and awkward.

Kelly, of course, felt fine. Cortana had convinced her to go with her to the salon so she wouldn't be alone.

"I am getting my feet done, my feet are absolutely killing me," groaned Cortana, "I don't know how I'm going to be able to stand for most of the evening."

Kelly had to admit, even though the idea of paying someone to take care of her feet was very strange, it did feel nice. Even though she wasn't feeling half of the discomforts of pregnancy that Cortana was, it was nice to have a little bit of tension released.

"This is so weird, that I'm sitting here with you getting my hair done for a wedding," Cortana mused while the stylist fiddled with various heated instruments.

"I've never done anything like this before," Kelly commented while her hair was brushed and teased.

"Well, there was a minimum you had to spend in the salon to have a wedding here, and it's not like I was going to bring John along," she scoffed.

Cortana was getting her hair trimmed and layered a little bit along with ironed down so it was more sleek than usual, nothing too out of the ordinary just a bit more polished.

When I was an AI I didn't have to worry about flyaways, she thought wryly to herself.

"Is this your natural hair color?" the stylist asked as he trimmed her bangs. Cortana laughed,

"I get that all the time, yes."

"Where are you from, it's absolutely gorgeous!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh, I was born on Reach," she said quietly.

"Gosh that's so far away, what in the world brings you all the way out here?" he took a flat iron to her hair releasing puffs of steam as he did so.

"I was in the UNSC and my fiancee retired from active duty, we wanted somewhere quiet and remote. We've had enough excitement for a lifetime," she sighed.

"I understand, I've lived here my whole life and the war was terrible."

Everyone had memories of war. Everyone had lost someone over these long years. It was an important thing to remember.

"So what did you and your fiance do for the UNSC? Is that how you met?"

Cortana had grown used to being asked things like this when she got engaged-she didn't go out much, but whenever she did people would look at her left hand and feel compelled to ask her about her entire life. It was a cultural norm that she found bizarre.

"It's a little classified still, but my fiance is a Spartan, I was a field intelligence specialist assigned to him during the Human-Covenant war," she said mildly.

"Wow, that is insane! A Spartan like, those big dudes in armor?" Cortana started laughing.

"Ladies too," she gestured to the chair next to her where Kelly, who was clearly too large for the chair she was sitting in, was having her hair cut, "my future sister-in-law," she smiled.

"Damn...what in the world is that like?" he asked.

Cortana was amused by how gossipy this hair stylist was. John and Kelly both abhorred small-talk but Cortana found it highly enjoyable.

"Well, we get a lot of stares when we go out, he's over a foot taller than me. You run into silly problems like how they don't really make beds for people who are almost seven feet tall, but I think in the next few years seeing Spartans around will become a little bit more normal, or at least a little less uncommon than it is right now," she shifted uncomfortably in her chair as the baby kicked her ribs. She exhaled sharply and noticed her stylist look at her oddly.

"Sorry, my baby is kicking me," she laughed.

"Oh jeez, I can't even imagine being pregnant, no thank you," he replied.

"Well, life will take you interesting places if you let it."

"So are you excited?"

"About getting married?"

"Of course," he drawled as he sprayed a piece of hair.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She'd never worn make-up before and she'd never had her hair styled. She'd never worn a nice dress and it was an entirely new experience. She found it exciting, but she felt a little weird about it.

"Honestly it's just a detail to me. After you've been through what he and I have been through together, your perception of things changes. Of course I'm happy to marry him, but I think we both would've been equally fine not getting married."

"Well, with just one last detail," he tucked one wayward hair away, "you are done."

She smiled. Her make up was extremely natural looking, nothing obnoxious or overpowering.

"Thank you," she smiled.

She looked over to Kelly who seemed to be having a somewhat uncomfortable experience as her hair was brushed and dried. It was cut a little more modernly with some blunt angles and Cortana thought it looked really amazing. It was teased and curled so it managed to look voluminous and a little messy but still somewhat styled.

She shouldn't be surprised so frequently by the beauty of her friend. She supposed that because it was such an afterthought, such an inconsequential thing when compared to the whole of her as an individual, it often snuck up on her and Kelly was suddenly this radiant Amazon Queen, at least that's what Cortana had taken to referring to her as in her head.

Kelly was smart, kind, brave; it seemed almost trivial to note that she was also beautiful. At times like this it was impossible to ignore. Cortana supposed that all of the Spartan-II soldiers were attractive almost to the point of absurdity-they had been chosen for their exemplary genetics which afforded them not only good health but subsequently rather attractive features. It was almost ironic considering it was so nonessential to their original, extremely specific purpose.

Cortana and Kelly ate a quick lunch in her room. John was off making sure that their Sanghelli guest wasn't experiencing any trouble and waiting for Lasky and his date to show up.

Catherine walked into their room and poured herself some coffee.

"Cortana, how are you feeling?"

"Glad that we're doing this wedding thing before I get any bigger," she said sarcastically, as she popped a strawberry into her mouth.

"God, I want so much food all the time," she murmured dipping some more fruit in chocolate.

"Kelly you look very nice," said Catherine appraisingly as she put on her dress and earrings.

"Nice is the biggest understatement of the year, you look amazing, I'm excited to see if Fred has any reaction but I know that John is going to be so weirded out seeing you in a dress, I can't wait," exclaimed Cortana.

"You are the only woman to ever hope her future husband looks at another woman on her wedding day," Halsey stated dryly.

Cortana snorted. "Please, if there's one thing I know I don't have to worry about is John having a wandering eye. He's pretty into this," she gestured widely at herself, "for some reason."

Kelly couldn't help but laugh. Cortana's way of speaking was so...odd. She could be so self deprecating and at the same time witty and cocky, it was very bizarre.

Catherine helped Cortana into her dress, it was very delicate.

Seeing her in a wedding dress was difficult. She wondered if Miranda might have married. Cortana resembled Miranda very much. It was one of the first things she had noticed about Cortana, though she had simply written it down in her journal and tried to forget about it. She wondered if she would have attended even if she had. Jacob would have been there and perhaps they would have spoken-he was always kind to her in passing even though she knew she had hurt him deeply. Somehow she managed to hurt most things and people she loved. In another life, in another time, perhaps she would have been zipping up the dress of her daughter.

_"So then you made your own perfect daughter with that AI of yours, Cortana, a tidy little copy of yourself who thinks you're the Virgin Mary."_

The words sprung up on her unexpectedly. Mendez had said that to her at the beginning of his tirade on Onyx, now Trevelyan. Had she created Cortana just to satisfy some sort of sick narcissism? Some demented form of wish fulfilment when she had already had her own daughter who had been wonderful in every way-far too wonderful for the likes of her.

Cortana turned around when she had finished zipping it. Catherine could see herself, could see the ghost of Miranda-a younger, happier, glowing version that couldn't be closer to her in so many mysterious ways.

In a wedding dress.

They could not have been more different in that moment. She had two daughters, both who hadn't taken after her. But who did Cortana take after? How? Cortana was no copy of herself. It had never been clearer to her than it was in this moment.

She reached and grabbed both of Cortana's hands in her own.

"You look very beautiful Cortana," said Catherine quietly.

She felt a tear stream down her cheek.

Cortana looked at her creator, the closest thing both she and John had ever known to a mother, no matter how screwed up for him that may have been. She was here. She was here taking care of her. She had her worries-worries that the Doctor was simply interested in her child as a science experiment and as some sort of grandiose validation for her transgressions. She could forget about that for just this moment and pretend it wasn't so complicated, pretend that it wasn't so hard for just a little while. It filled her with overwhelming warmth that blossomed throughout her chest.

"Thank you, Catherine."

* * *

John was having a hard time.

"So the purpose of this ceremony is to declare a commitment to one another in front of other people?"

Thel'Vadam had made the trip from Sanghelios to his wedding. He was definitely getting a lot of stares. Parents held their children closer and people glared, it didn't seem to bother him.

"More or less," agreed John.

"I see," he said lowly. "Marriage is more private on Sanghelios. So you are 'marrying' your construct?" this confused him further.

"It's not really like that anymore," he tried to explain but then found himself realizing he didn't fully understand either.

"I am not one to judge," he said quickly. John didn't want to bother trying to explain that it wasn't something weird and never had been.

"You are puny without your armor," he commented. John sighed.

"I'm the tallest person you'll see on this planet," he mused.

"Humans are very tiny."

"Compared to Elites yes, we are smaller in stature," John agreed.

He was happy to have him here, though he was saddened that Linda had declined to attend. She was apparently off on an even less populated planet living communally in meditation. It made sense, she had always been very introspective. She had said that while he was allowed to visit, her own personal journey wouldn't allow her to leave the planet for some time.

He still felt good about his decision to invite the Arbiter. Even though they were not friends, persay, John felt a deep respect for him. He was a force of good in the galaxy and one of his greatest allies.

Kelly had approached him to express her concern, about inviting an Elite to his wedding. He explained the time they spent together, how many times he'd seen him save a human life, his own included.

When he mentioned that he would perhaps be willing to show her a thing or two with an energy sword and perhaps even spar, she had become much more amicable to the idea.

John's pocket buzzed, he was receiving an alert from the front desk that Lasky had checked in. It was about 1600 at this point, the sun would start to set around 1700.

"I'm going to stay here, it is a rather nice sight," the Arbiter said lowly. It was indeed a beautiful garden and waterfall-minerals in the water made it a deep, dark blue with purple plants springing up in the still water. The orange sunset was creating a beautiful scene. John nodded and went to the front desk to see Tom Lasky and, to his surprise, Sarah Palmer. Cortana is going to laugh about this.

He looked at the two of them. She was much shorter without her armor, she was still about an inch taller than Lasky, but she couldn't have been too much over six feet tall. She was wearing a very simple navy dress and flat shoes, her hair pulled back revealing pearl earrings.

"Sir," John said quietly greeting him. Lasky shook his head.

"Please don't do that, it's just too weird," he reached out to shake his hand. Tom had made sure he'd taken leave for this. He felt honored that he was one of very few people invited.

Palmer looked at John a little awkwardly. She didn't really know how to greet him. On one hand, she was a commander, leader of hundreds of Spartans. On the other, he was a legend, a genuine Spartan, one that she wasn't sure anyone could fully live up to.

John raised his hand to shake hers, "John," he introduced sensing her hesitation.

She smirked a little, she really knew nothing about this man and had consistently found herself surprised by him. "Sarah," she replied smoothly and grasped his hand.

She and Tom had been...something, for a few months now but this was the first event they'd attended together. It moved it into the realm of public instead of private and it was exciting but there were definitely some things that took getting used to.

"So you're going to be married, I can't believe it," said Tom as John led them to where they were having the tiny ceremony-there were only six chairs set up.

"Holy motherfucker," Palmer gasped under her breath.

"Hey, Marine," he said, teasing her for her language.

"No I am not fucking joking Tom, look," she turned her head pointedly.

Tom's eyes widened at what he saw. Walking outside towards them was easily the tallest, most muscular woman he'd ever seen in high heels. She was wearing a tight fitted dress. She started laughing as she walked towards John.

"Cortana is going to be angry that she missed your face," she smirked.

"You are wearing a dress," he said shortly.

"Very good observation Chief," the way she said 'Chief' was almost like a nickname with none of the reverence the title usually carried. She punched him on the arm so quickly that Sarah's eyes had a hard time tracking the movement. "I'm almost taller than you now."

Looking at the two of them together, Sarah couldn't help but feel intimidated.

She turned and made eye contact with her.

"Hi, I'm Kelly, John's sister," she reached to shake hands with each of them.

John couldn't help but smile at their facial expressions. They looked completely awestruck. He was a little shocked-he knew that Cortana had something to do with that dress and he couldn't help but find the entire thing amusing. Objectively he could understand that Kelly was a very beautiful woman, the colloquial expression 'knock-out' came to mind looking at the faces of his wedding guests.

"When Kelly and I were little we were on a three-man team together for years," he explained. Sister was the only word that worked for Kelly.

Tom and Sarah still hadn't said anything, they were too shocked. Kelly ignored their reactions.

"Cortana wanted to know when you were coming to get her, she's a very impatient person," Kelly commented.

"I was on my way, I'll go right now."

Sarah watched as he left, another, less severe looking man had been taking a few pictures here and there. Kelly ran over to him and grabbed his hand to go sit down. Dr. Halsey wearing a soft green dress sat down next to them.

That left her and Tom sitting next to the Arbiter. Sarah and Tom both had worked with him and found him to be an incredible ally but it was just a funny picture.

"I was so busy gawking that I'm just now realizing this-she's pregnant," whispered Lasky. Palmer rolled her eyes.

"She can hear you, her hearing is better than mine Tom and I'd hear your whispers half a mile away," she laughed. As if to confirm, Kelly looked over to them, ran a hand over her stomach, and smiled.

"This is definitely going to be more interesting than we predicted," commented Sarah.

With very little fanfare, Cortana and John walked outside, arm in arm. Cortana looked much like she had as an AI. She looked radiant, her cheeks flushed a rosy red, a soft smile on her face.

They reached the officiant together and after a quick greeting, they went directly into their vows.

"I vow to stand by your side and take care of you. I will do my best to be a good mother to our daughter. You have all of the love and devotion I could possibly give, now and forever."

When John spoke, Tom found himself surprised. He had only seen his face a few times before this occasion he had been going through a dark time. He still looked very somber, very serious to the point of being almost grave as he spoke his vow.

"I promise you everything, forever," was all he said.

Sarah wondered what it would be like to have the arguably most powerful and decorated hero of the galaxy promise everything to you. It was a strange concept, for her to see him so vulnerable to another person.

He leaned in and kissed her with a softness she could've never imagined coming from him, when every part of him looked like it was poised to kill, a perfect instrument of destruction handling a comparatively fragile woman with such tenderness was almost poetic.

They were announced married and the small group of attendees clapped, the Arbiter looking confused about why everyone was hitting their hands together.

Cortana proceeded to jump rather impressively and kiss him. Shocked initially, the Spartan picked her up in his arms and kissed her back.

Sarah started laughing incredulously and whistled loudly.

He set her down and everyone offered their congratulations.

"Well, we have a reservation at the restaurant, food and drinks are on us," Cortana announced. She grabbed John's hand and leaned against him, leading everyone to their small wedding reception.

_Married. This is going be different somehow, _she thought to herself.

* * *

Didn't really know where to end this, had to divide it up somehow. How you enjoyed it!


	14. Chapter 14

Hey all! I think finals turned my brain to mush/goop...I'm having a hard time thinking about anything! Lots of military stuff this chapter...Hope it isn't hard to follow. I'm Air Force so that's most of my background. (For military readers out there, yes I am aware, chair force...lololol, glad we got that out there). Spartan rank structure and whatnot is pretty vague so I take some liberties. I hope you guys enjoy this! It's a MEGA long chapter-I spoil you guys.

* * *

When they sat down, the Captain took the liberty of buying two bottles of champagne.

"Tom, let us be good hosts," Cortana said. She felt a little odd about someone buying champagne for her and John even if it was their wedding.

"Let us be good guests, you guys need a toast at least," he smiled. He was charismatic and rather charming.

He stood up to make his toast.

"I haven't had the pleasure of knowing either of you on a very personal level, but I can most assuredly say that I can't think of two people who deserve happiness more than the two of you. I'm honored to be here, amongst your family and friends."

They all toasted and started to enjoy their dinners.

"I don't know if I was ever under your command, I served on the Lightbringer for the last five years of my career with fireteam Kronos," said Kelly sipping water.

"No then you weren't, I would've remembered you," Sarah said. She remembered almost all of the Spartans under her command at any given time even though it was a lot. She could recognize faces and she most certainly would have remembered a Spartan-II, her only Spartan-II had been the Chief, however brief that had been.

"Did you have any Spartan class threes?"

"I actually have all of them right now, don't want to split them up," she said. Kelly and Fred's eyes lit up.

"How are they," asked Kelly excitedly.

"They're well, tough as nails with the most grit I've ever seen, they can really bring it."

It was true, she had never seen such fire, such intensity from a group of individuals until she had met the small group of Spartan-IIIs. The look in their eyes was something she had never seen anywhere else, it was raw determination and a very clear vision of what it was like to go to hell and back. It was extremely unnerving but somehow awe-inspiring.

"Spartan Lucy actually just put on E-7 and is my first sergeant. She does an excellent job and she's a great NCO, she really understands people and has been an invaluable resource," she replied.

Lucy was the tiniest Spartan in history. When she had found out she was getting the last remaining Spartan-IIIs and the potential problems they would present she had done her research.

The absolute shit that Lucy and Tom had been through blew her mind. When she had read the file on Pegasi Delta, it gave her goosebumps. She considered herself pretty tough, she had seen a lot of action, seen plenty of men and women die and put bullets in plenty of Covies, but nothing like Pegasi Delta. She couldn't even fathom what it would be like to watch the only family you had just burn like that, gone right before your eyes.

Lucy didn't speak for seven years after the incident.

When Sarah had read that, she knew that she wanted that woman as her first shirt. She couldn't think of a better person to look out for her Spartans, someone who had been to a hell beyond anything she could reason and made her way back, no matter how long it had taken she had made it back. She'd called her to her office a few days after she had in-processed to Infinity.

"Ma'am, Spartan Lucy-B091 reports as ordered."

She was very soft spoken but not in a timid way, her voice was simply quiet.

"At ease Spartan, have a seat," she gestured at the chair. She did so and looked directly at her. She looked small in the chair that was designed for hulking Spartans.

"How are you finding the Infinity?"

"I have never been on a ship of this magnitude or with this many people, it's amazing, ma'am," she replied stiffly.

"I read that you and the other Spartan class IIIs received Mjolnir training prior to your arrival, are you feeling more competent with the equipment? It's very complex."

She looked down a little awkwardly.

"I haven't been able to train at all, I haven't received my armor and the specification list because there isn't any small enough for me."

Palmer frowned and made a note. "I'll put that on priority, I need you prepared and training with your fireteam."

"I apologize, ma'am."

Palmer chuckled. "What are you apologizing for, being small? You can't help that."

"It's embarrassing for a Spartan," she said quietly.

Palmer looked at her. She had dark, short hair and a delicate face. Pixie, was the word that came to mind when she looked at her. Part of her still looked like a little girl at 20 years old, but she was no little girl. There was a haunted look about her, a look that Palmer had become very familiar with seeing. Palmer knew one thing for sure-Lucy had nothing to be ashamed of.

"I wanted to discuss your file."

She watched Lucy clench her hands the slightest bit but aside from that she showed no outward reaction.

"I read about what happened to you. I read about Pegasi Delta and your years of silence afterwards."

The sound of the explosion, the factory and the leaking coolant, the smell of burning flesh and the impossibly bright white light, saltwater and panic...It quickly flashed through Lucy's mind with torrential clarity. She must have gone pale because the Commander looked at her.

The Commander was worried that she couldn't handle this. She could be separated from Tom who she had been with for as long as she could remember. The other Spartan-IIIs needed her too-they were her family, she had to look out for them. Maybe she could make her understand.

"It was...truly horrible. I know that people react differently to trauma and it was where my threshold was. Everyone I had ever loved was dead and I felt like I should have been dead too, I couldn't save them," she found herself saying the same words she had said to Prone, words she had never said to another human, even Tom, she was saying to this Commander.

_You're not doing a good job convincing her you're fit for duty, pull it together Luce,_ she coached. But she couldn't, not now that she had started.

"Tom and I were the only survivors and I was in a haze. I couldn't believe what had happened, I had deserved to die that day. I looked up at the hot sky and the ashes around me, the cruelty and hell that had formed around me and asked Tom," she took in a deep breath to master herself but it didn't do much, "I asked him: 'How do we know we're still alive?"

It was chilling, the hollow tone in her gentle voice when she said those words. How does anyone know what alive is when they've seen so much death? Your own life doesn't even matter at that point.

It was hard not to feel emotion hearing her story. The tiny Spartan before her had seen too much too soon when she had been a kid sent to die. Her parents had been turned to glass long before her Spartan brothers and sisters on that day leaving fractured pieces of her in their wake.

"For some reason those were the last words I spoke for seven years. Something about me was just inexplicably broke, all of my words were taken from me, they had died. I still worked hard to be a good Spartan and I learned to make people understand me but I had just...it was too much for me back then. I'm better now, you don't have to worry about me, I can handle the mission."

_It would've been too much for just about anyone,_ thought Palmer to herself. _And here she is, defending herself to me, begging to come back for more. Amazing._

Palmer felt humbled. True heroes don't always go down in history books-this war had so many casualties-it made her wonder how many others, how many other soldiers, were walking around dead inside like she had. How many had had their very humanity taken from them the way this woman had.

"Did I read correctly that it took Catherine Halsey to push you over the edge to speak again?"

Lucy swallowed nervously-finding words was still difficult at times, especially in a situation like this. She was being so honest about the shame she felt. She wanted her to know she was okay, that she wasn't going to be a problem, she could do this.

The only officers she had known were Kurt and Fred. This woman was more intimidating, more polished than either of them.

_You're a Spartan damnit. You aren't afraid of anything. You know hell, you can handle it, you're small but you've got grit._ Her inner monologue sounded like Chief Mendez. She missed him right now, she remembered how he had held her when she cried, the closest memory she had of a Father was him even though it saddened her. He had taken care of her from when she was a little girl, he had promised her revenge and made her a strong Spartan-she would not fail him.

"You read correctly ma'am."

"After almost a decade of not speaking, what did that Doctor do to get you to snap like that?"

Lucy couldn't tell what the Commander was looking for, she couldn't tell if she was going to be told off or what.

"Ma'am she…" the memory was making her angry when she recalled it, she could feel her hands start to shake with barely controlled fury. "She's a bully, she was harassing my…" she searched for the right word, "my friend," friend was the right word even if it made her sound crazy, "Prone. She wouldn't leave him alone and he was scared and I could tell he just wanted her to leave him alone."

"Prone to Drift is a Huragok, how could you tell he was scared?"

Lucy shifted a little in the chair. She took in a deep breath.

"I've been scared before. I've known what it feels like to feel helpless and to just want everything to stop, I've known what it's like to not be able to speak. It was just too much seeing her harass him like that, he was innocent," she remembered Prone's shaking and how he had curled his tentacles up towards himself in fear.

_We were so similar, Prone and I,_ she recollected.

Palmer's facial expression softened minutely. She has a lot of heart. She might be tiny but I've never seen this kind of a spirit before.

"I believe you, Spartan. I believe you and that's why I want you to be my first shirt, my right hand, my eyes and ears to the enlisted Spartan corps on this vessel. You know what it's like to be down and out, you've seen the realest hell that anyone could conjure. You know what it's like to fight back even if it's not easy, even when it's an uphill battle."

Lucy's eyes widened. This wasn't what she had expected out of this conversation.

"Ma'am, I-"

"It's a big promotion, First Sergeants have to be at least an E-7 so you'd be hoping a few rungs but I have a feeling you could handle it. What do you say?"

Lucy felt her heart clench. It was a big responsibility and it was important to the whole ship. E-7, she'd be only one pay rate below Chief Mendez.

"I'm happy to serve wherever I'm needed, ma'am."

"Good," she tapped a button and ordered the promotion, "Today's your date of rank, report to me at the beginning of the duty day tomorrow and I will show you to your office. You will still be with your fireteam and running through war games but you will have some additional administrative duties to accomodate. Ideally you will meet with me once a day unless the mission doesn't allow for this. You will be the step on the chain-of-command before me; when an enlisted member needs me they'll go to you first. You will become familiarized with the health and counseling services aboard the Infinity and be able to refer Spartans anonymously to those resources, you will not tell anyone, even myself, who seeks any of these resources. Fireteam leaders will report to you with any problems, anything they need for their Spartans to maintain optimal readiness will go through you. Do you have any questions?"

She felt speechless. She couldn't believe she was getting so much trust, such a big responsibility at her first real duty station. She had done a lot of administrative work on Onyx, or Trevelyen as it was now called thought it had mostly been housekeeping. She had known the duty that first shirts performed but she'd never seen herself as one-she had only been speaking again for a few months.

She smiled softly. It felt amazing to be useful, to be in a position to help others.

"No ma'am, thank you for this opportunity, I won't let you down," she said resolutely. She wouldn't leave any room for error, she was going to do this right, she would serve the Spartans of Infinity and Commander Palmer to the best of her ability.

She got up and did a proper salute and about-face. Right as she was about to leave, the Commander spoke again.

"Spartan?"

Lucy looked over her shoulder. "Yes ma'am?"

"It was about time someone gave that woman a fist full of her own medicine, I wish I could've seen it."

"She doesn't like Spartan-IIIs, she treated us like subpar hardware compared to the IIs, it was annoying and debasing."

Palmer smirked. I'm sure a good punch made her wonder how subpar they were.

"She doesn't like us IVs either kid, welcome to the club."

Lucy smiled the biggest smile she had smiled in a long, long while. She and the Commander were going to be a good team.

Sarah, being a work-a-holic, was receiving a consistent stream of messages from Lucy throughout the whole day just to assure her that things were going well. She was glad she had someone she could trust so much.

"First shirt, that's really amazing for her," said Kelly happily. "You must be a good leader to see potential like that, that's the most important part of being a leader is having a vision for what you could achieve," she said kindly. Sarah felt a little overwhelmed at the Spartan-II's praise. She took a sip of her drink awkwardly.

"I do the best I can for the people I serve, I expect their best so they deserve my best," she said trying to sound humble.

"That's a good way to look at leadership, leadership is servitude in many ways," agreed Fred.

"Fred and I received an invite to visit Reach and observe the new Spartan training programs, we were thinking of making the trip before the baby comes, what was your experience like?"

Sarah felt that she couldn't even begin to talk about her Spartan training-it would pale in comparison to what they had went through even though it had been the hardest thing she'd ever done.

"Lots of team building. PT isn't as big of a concern because there is a rigorous screening process before you can even enter the indoc phase, there is a lot after the surgeries to get used to the different capabilities and a lot of emphasis on Mjolnir," she said calmly.

Kelly laughed a little bit, "John was the first to ever successfully wear Mjolnir armor-we were all so jealous when we saw him, it was probably the only time in his life he was faster than me," she ribbed. John shook his head a little bit exasperatedly, "The best part, Catherine is trying to tell him 'relax Chief, be very relaxed,' the XO moves to leave, John snaps to a salute and nearly bashes his own head in, Sam teased you for days about that," she smiled warmly.

"How could I forget about that," he commented dryly.

"I'll have to remind you more often," joked Kelly.

Sarah couldn't believe how casual this Kelly was and how absolutely silent her appeared to be husband was. He looked so much more normal than John or Kelly, his mannerisms much less forward, he was taking pictures of the whole event. She tried to ignore the Doctor as much as she could-she wasn't a fan in any sense of the word and it was hard to be in a room with someone you'd once attempted to kill. She could tell by a few subtle, cold glances that the feeling was mutual.

"Arbiter, you should know that Kelly is the best human I've ever seen wield an energy sword," John said quietly.

The Sanghelli looked to her, very clearly sizing her up.

"Yes, I remember you telling me about this, this is something I would like to see," he commented, clearly amused.

"You can't fight with energy swords, you're pregnant," said Catherine, a little perplexed.

"Do not worry, I have brought equipment that makes for practice-when you go in for a kill, it deactivates the sword instantly, otherwise we would have far less of us were this not so," he mused.

"If you're nervous Kelly I would understand, Thel'Vadam is the best of his people," John goaded.

Kelly glared, that was a cheap blow. There was no way she could resist a challenge, he knew that because it was also in his nature.

"Tomorrow morning then," Kelly stated picking at wedding cake.

Cortana rested her hand on John's leg underneath the table and absent mindedly drew circles. She was getting tired and it wasn't even that late. She smiled softly. Even though a wedding had been just a detail, it had been a nice experience. It made her feel more prepared to welcome a child into their home.

Everyone continued to chat amicably. Dr. Halsey was very quiet but seemed as content as she ever did.

"So how is the UNSC?" questioned Fred, speaking for perhaps the first time that evening.

"Honestly things are a little boring right now, not that we're complaining. We're working on transitioning our force and numbers to reflect times of peace, our missions are all changing, people are getting out and taking leave to their families for the first time in years," Lasky smiled. "It's a good time."

"Speak for yourself, I've been dealing with an absolute shit storm which isn't really anyone's fault except for NavSpecWepCOM mandating all of these inspections because of ONI's budget directives," sighed Palmer, taking a large sip of her wine. "I can't tell you much but at least Tom here is much nicer to work with than Del Rio, I've had a drink or two and let me tell you he's the biggest fucking POG I've ever worked for."

John started laughing. It was the frankest, crudest and most accurate assessment he'd heard to describe a commanding officer. John also really didn't like the man even though he usually made a point of not forming personal opinions on the people he worked with.

"See look even he agrees with me, I bet you can smell a POG a mile away," she found it easier to address him more directly with a drink or two in her system, easier to address him like a normal person because it was still entirely too surreal.

"I know you Navy guys like to think you're all a big class act but he asked me to arrest the Master Chief, can we talk about how ridiculous that is? Had he been anyone other than the commanding officer of the Infinity I probably would have laughed and told him to fuck off. I'm sure if he hadn't gotten transferred he would've tried to give me a Letter of Reprimand or a disorderly but shit," she paused and finished her drink, "I was not getting in between you," she gestured at John, "and her," she gestured at Cortana.

"I don't think any of us were really having a good day that day," said Cortana recalling her rampancy very clearly.

"Okay I'm not going to deny that my predecessor may have been a little bit of a jerk but you're calling him a POG? You're an officer and a Spartan, you've come to the POG side, you can hardly call a Spartan a grunt you guys get everything," provoked Tom. He liked to see if he could get a rise out of her and it was easier when they were off duty.

"I paid my dues as a ground-pounding grunt even before I became an ODST which is probably the shitiest, roughest gig in the UNSC, drop me in armor with a bunch of Covies nowadays and I've got you covered but when I was an ODST that shit was terrifying," she sighed, "Look, having experienced both, I would much rather drop in armor with re-enforced bone structure than in a glorified coffin that malfunctions half of the time with a bunch of friggin Zealots running at you with energy swords, shit is ridiculous," she shook her head.

"Well us mere mortals manage somehow."

John had never thought about it that way. He had seen the terrified looks on the marine's faces when fighting Covenant and had felt an urge to cover for them whenever he could-he had never really felt fear when on the battlefield, it was an emotion he had never made time for, it was hardly mission essential. He was sure that Palmer's experience, her experience of having 'both sides' benefited her in some ways-she was more able to lead in the UNSC than he was able to, she could relate to the common fears and struggles of the grunt. Even things like military slang, POG, person other than grunt, were colloquialisms he just didn't think in terms of. He felt like he could respect her more as a Spartan and leader hearing her speak of her experience-it was unique. The Spartan branch was unique, he thought it was a very good program.

Palmer looked from the Chief to Cortana. She was clearly starting to look tired. She couldn't even imagine herself as a mother let alone these other Spartans as parents.

"How are you feeling?" Sarah overheard John speaking quietly to Cortana.

"I'm okay, just getting sleepy. My feet hurt, I really shouldn't have worn heels even though they're supposed to be very comfortable ones. I'll probably put you to use later,"

"I don't mind," he spoke even lower. Sarah had to strain to hear over Tom speaking to Fred and Kelly about command structure, Christ he was such a square. Probably why she liked him so much. She refocused her attention on eavesdropping.

"Really? I can think of other things for you to do besides rub my feet," Sarah was trying so hard to make it appear that she was involved in another conversation, adding tiny things when she could but this was too much, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What's your plan, I could use some intel."

_No. Way._ Out of context he sounded how he had normally sounded, very serious and practical but in the context her mind was blown. The Master Chief was somehow, some way, a flirt.

"First you're going to carry me up to our room because I don't feel like walking," out of the corner of her eye she watched as Cortana ran her hand from his shoulder to underneath the table. Sarah saw an almost imperceptible change on his face. Holy shit she's touching him under the table. This is so beyond weird, I want to stop listening but I can't. "According to my sources, our room is equipped with a sizable jacuzzi, I think our best course of action would be to utilize it to our best advantage, after that we're flying blind."

"I have a few more ideas," he said calmly. Cortana smirked a little bit.

"What, you plan on shooting your way out again?" she giggled, clearly something of an inside joke.

"Not this time."

Sarah saw a red flush creep up Cortana's neck and she made a noise that was rather inappropriate for public. The whole table turned to look at her. She started turning a brighter shade of red and shook her head quickly.

"I'm fine, baby just kicked me weird," she laughed nervously, "I think we're going to go to bed, I'm really exhausted, eat and drink as late as you want, it's on us, we'll see you in the morning," she got up and grabbed John's hand. It was a very strange sight to see such a small woman drag the nearly seven foot tall Spartan out of the restaurant, when they very clearly thought they were out of sight of their guests, they saw him scoop her up and carry her up the stairs, Cortana yelping indignantly "John!" laughing loudly and kicking her legs.

The entire table sat silently for a moment.

"I wish _my_ baby would kick me like that," said Kelly dryly.

Dr. Halsey was the first to cover her mouth and start laughing. She continued to laugh until she was in tears. She had very clearly reached her breaking point with this whole affair, she looked a little neurotic. She excused herself to go to bed, saying goodnight to Fred and Kelly without even acknowledging Tom or Sarah.

_Bitch probably has plenty of issues concerning this whole affair, _thought Sarah.

"Well, I may have married brass," she elbowed Fred, "but I was enlisted and the Chief is paying, so I say we get a round in honor of our newlyweds," she tapped the table and she ordered mixed drinks for the table and orange juice for herself.

The Arbiter quickly excused himself, saying that he would "See the Spartan in the morning."

This left Tom, Sarah, Kelly and Fred sitting at their table.

Kelly continued to ask Lasky and Palmer questions about their relationship to "her brother."

"Well, I met him first on the Infinity and because I commanded all the Spartans on the Infinity I was technically his last commanding officer, though that never really worked out I still ended up with a lot of nice things like his discharge and retirement paperwork so I felt like I really got to know him," spoke Sarah a little sarcastically.

"I wouldn't wish that stuff on anyone, I didn't realize how much a commission really just brought paperwork in addition to leadership," said Fred.

"Thank you, I personally think it's a bunch of bullshit, give me a weapon anytime any day but in times of peace soldiers, even Spartans, get up to no good, alcohol I'm telling you," she chuckled, "So many LoCs, I had a guy who got drunk and accidentally pulled a door off of its hinges, that was fun to deal with."

"The NCO life is the best place to be, I don't need any of that brass crap," laughed Kelly. "We got married a day after I got out so we didn't have any unfortunate frat law violations but I have to say I wouldn't have commissioned for you sweetheart," Kelly teased.

"I would have understood completely."

"I met not only the Chief but both of you one time before when I was very young, on Circinius IV," he spoke quietly.

Kelly and Fred both thought for a long moment.

"I remember that now," said Fred quietly.

"That was...that was a terrible, dark day," Kelly murmured.

"It was. I don't know if the Chief has made the connection but that day...what he did for me that day, it made me the officer and man I am today," he said quietly.

Sarah was confused. "I knew you were at the attack on Circinius IV but you never spoke of the details."

"The Chief was the reason I survived that day, he saved me and my squadmates, we were the only three who survived," Lasky spoke gravely.

"John said the only reason that any of you survived was you," spoke Fred softly.

"He would paint it that way," said Lasky feeling a little embarrassed.

"You should be proud of that day, you were a true soldier," said Kelly looking directly at him.

"Tom...what happened?" Sarah couldn't help but feel worried about how clearly affecting the memory was.

"My squad and I were trapped and I sent out a signal, the Chief heard it and busted in, saved us from an Elite who'd killed two of us already," he shook his head, "we were a bunch of shell-shocked kids and he gave us weapons to fight our way out with him. I'll never forget what it was like, seeing him run and shoot with two weapons, fighting our way to the evac point…" he sighed. For the first time in a long time, he really remembered watching Chyler die, he remembered her dog tags in his pocket constantly but the actual moment she died was often buried underneath the tasks of the day. He had grown up in that moment.

"I never forgot your faces, I remembered them through my career, when I wanted to give up. You looked...You were so young, not much older than me and yet I knew that you had been feeling the way I had felt, after holding someone as they died, for a long while. And yet, you all seemed so invincible to me, I felt that if I could've been a fraction as strong I could've made a difference in the war."

Kelly looked at him and nodded slightly, clearly deep in thought. She sighed. "That was...that marked a very dark time for myself and for John, that attack was almost directly after we lost our squadmate and brother Samuel in one of the first Covenant attacks of the war. The loss of any of Spartan was painful, but losing Sam changed the both of us forever, a feeling I'm sure you understand," Lasky nodded understanding completely what she meant, about a particular death changing someone forever.

"Battle after battle we were stripped apart. We were clinging onto what we were taught to be, we were Spartans. We were the chosen saviors of humanity, the very best, it was our duty. The reality that we were what was standing between the human race and total destruction weighed heavily upon us. We knew that failure was a possibility. Seeing the only family you've ever known dying around you ...knowing that you would be happy to die for our cause, die along with your brothers and sisters because Spartans never truly die, but at the same time fighting with everything you had," Kelly chuckled darkly, "that is what loss is, that is what darkness is. The fighting with the Covenant remnant was comparatively fun."

"John is...he and Cortana are lucky to have what they have. Fred and I have worked very hard for the happiness we have achieved. Civilian life has not been easy," she said seriously.

"Your honesty is refreshing, many veterans have the same problems you're talking about. Now that we move into peacetime we are having the same problem we've had for hundreds of years, placing our members into civilian lives that they can function. Suicide rates are higher now than they ever were during the war, people don't know what to do with themselves at this point," Sarah thought about the papers upon papers she would see on Tom's desk. They hardly processed anything with paper anymore, but suicides were the exception.

"At times, it is hard to look to tomorrow when not so long ago, tomorrow was taken away," Fred said quietly, "but now we have tomorrow."

"Our situation has been unique because we have been consistently viewed as soldiers, not real people. I'm a schoolteacher now and there was initially a lot of contention from parents, they thought I would be too severe with their small children when for a long time, children were the only people I was comfortable around because adults would shy away from the both of us. It got much better after we found John and Cortana. Cortana is the most unique individual I have ever met," Kelly smiled.

"Unique is perhaps the best way to describe it. They have a very interesting relationship," said Tom, sipping on his beer.

"If you listen to them talk about the other one, it's interesting. I don't know if two people have ever known each other as well as they know each other. She has changed John." Kelly said smiling.

"In what way?" Lasky couldn't help but ask. The opportunity to hear about the Master Chief as a person was too tempting.

"John has always been...very grave. Very stoic, extremely serious. To give you a point of comparison, I was perhaps considered one of the most eccentric Spartans in our class, wouldn't you agree Fred?"

He smiled softly, "Yes, you used to fidget a lot."

Sarah and Tom still found Kelly very reserved and stoic, to some degree, so it was interesting to hear that she was "the most eccentric."

She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, John used to be a lone wolf and not a very good leader until Sam, him and myself started working together. Even still, when I had last seen John, before the fall of Reach, I could've never imagined him as he is today. Cortana and he are very similar in some ways-they are both the most impossibly stubborn people I have ever met and the most selfless people I have ever met. When I had heard about what he did, abandoning the UNSC and I saw him, I had to know why he did it," Kelly paused, "but now I understand she is special, it's the only way to describe her. When you spend time with her you learn that, she is a dear friend to me."

"As a Spartan-IV, it was very weird to meet the Master Chief. I had all of these ideas about what he would be like and almost every single one of them was wrong. He was stronger, braver and faster than I imagined. He was also so much more of a person than I could've ever imagined, instead of just a legend talked about during indoc," she chuckled. "I never was able to understand why he put everything on the line for her, why he would subvert order and discipline for an AI but clearly he knew there was something more."

"He loves her very dearly," agreed Kelly. She spoke similarly to John, using facts and logical reason. Things always were what they were with very little embellishment. She sighed and ran a hand over her abdomen. "I'm tired, I'm starting to need more sleep at night, it was nice speaking with the both of you. If John considers you friends then you are friends of us," Fred nodded as he stood up, grabbing his wife's hand.

Sarah was silent until they had both left.

"So this has been one of the most interesting evenings of my life," she said dryly.

"You know, I didn't really know what to expect so I can't say I expected something else, but I'd have to agree, this was all pretty weird," agreed Tom. They walked up to their room. They had gotten something really nice, Tom hadn't taken shore leave in recent memory and Sarah had barely been able to get her leave approved.

He changed into his pajamas while Sarah washed up. He thought about his last day on Circinius IV. He hadn't talked to Sully or Orenski in years-for all he knew they could be gone.

Sarah sat down by him, her body still wet from her shower.

"What happened, that day?" she asked softly. She'd never seen that look in his eye, a somewhat hopeless, sad look that war-weary soldiers often acquired. He had hid it well.

"You know about my cytoprethaline allergy," he said. She touched the blisters and scars on his chest.

"Mhmm."

"That day I was served papers I could've signed to get out of the UNSC. I was probably going to do it. I...I went and talked to my squadmate, Chyler about it. She was similar to me in that we had both lost people we'd loved, different in she had this fire about her, about the UNSC. She grew up on Cygnus around extreme amounts of Insurrectionist violence and she channeled all of her energy and hatred into school whereas I dealt with the loss of my brother and even the absence of my mother by questioning the military as a whole. Anyways, she…" he paused, remembering the day and the moment specifically, "she told me she would miss me, and then we kissed." He had had kisses before that, but they were of the playground truth or dare variety, she was his first real kiss.

Sarah nodded, imagining a young Thomas Lasky having his first kiss.

"That's when the sirens went off," he said quietly. "We didn't know what was going on and before we knew it ODSTs were dropping and everyone around us was dying. I'd never seen combat, I'd never seen someone die and all of a sudden my instructors and peers were falling around me. My squad ran to the artillery but didn't have codes to access live rounds. I sent out a signal hoping for someone, anyone, to come find us. We waited in fear to be killed. One of us was. Right when I thought we were all going to die, the Chief was there," he shook his head incredulously, "I've never held any religious convictions, but if God had a face, it was the face of Spartan-117," he chuckled a little.

"He told us that we were the only survivors on the planet and he proceeded to tear through Covenant fire so we could get on a warthog. It seemed like we were all going to make it until a plasma grenade detonated beneath our warthog and wrecked it. A pair of Hunters showed up and no one had seen Hunters before, even the Chief was shocked," he stopped, taking a moment, "I didn't realize it until she started screaming that she'd been hit by a needler. The Chief went to go take on one of the Hunters while we carried her away. She couldn't move and we gave up, laying her on the ground. She…" his voice wavered a little, "she smiled at me, told me it was going to be okay and that she was sorry. Sorry for dying on me. All I could do was say no over and over again. She tore off her dog tags and gave them to me, then she died," he said plainly.

Sarah grabbed his hand and he continued.

"The Chief came back and told us he'd unloaded all his ammo in the first Hunter and needed everything we had. All we had were stun rounds except the grenade I'd been carrying. I handed it to him, I felt so numb. My squad went ahead following the Chief. I looked at Chyler one more time. It was the strangest moment in my life, I grew up in that moment, looking at my dead friend. I caught up with my group and the Chief was about to go take on the Hunter with just a grenade, it was looking very grim. He told us to head to the pelican, no matter what happened to him. I had formulated a plan that he would've never suggested though, I told him I'd run out as a decoy and he could sweep from behind."

Sarah's eyes widened. She couldn't imagine it, running in front of a Hunter, unarmed, ready to die.

"I did it, it shot near me and I flew back a few feet. Right as I was most assuredly going to die, the Chief jumped on the thing's back and shoved a grenade into it and jumped back before it detonated," he shook his head.

"That's absolutely insane, I've never killed one of those fuckers without unloading a few clips," she said in awe.

He nodded. "I thought I was dead when my two squadmates were shaking me to wake up. We were close to the evac point. A Spartan who I now recognize as Kelly ran up and talked to John but everything seemed like a blur. Sitting in that pelican as the planet was glassed, across from three, what had appeared to be robots, having just watched my closest friend die, I couldn't feel anything. Two of the Spartans took off their helmets, 087 and 104, Kelly and Fred. They looked at us, so young, couldn't have been but five years older than us. They were so proud and so scarred, so ruined but so perfect in a moment. They nodded at us, as if to say they understood what we were feeling, that it wasn't going to get any better or easier and that was just reality in that moment. John didn't take off his helmet, but he handed me a piece of the grenade that killed the hunter and told me 'good job soldier.' That moment is what has carried me through my entire career," He reached into his bag and pulled out Chyler's dog tags and the piece of grenade.

Sarah looked at it closely, feeling in awe. This was a piece of his past, a tangible representation of his journey as a soldier and a person. The story truly summed up everything about him-his intellect, his loyalty, and most of all his bravery.

"That's nothing short of amazing. You were so brave," she said. He blushed.

"I don't remember it that way. Like I said, I don't know if John has made that connection, but he is what inspired my entire career in the UNSC as an officer, everything I've stood for. It was a life changing event."

"But it's no wonder you two have enough of a connection for him to invite you to his wedding, you notice there were six of us there, one a Sanghelli, another a woman who abducted him, his sister, her husband and us? You're a pretty special guy," she kissed him softly.

He laughed. "It sounds ridiculous when you say it that way."

"Can we please talk about how ridiculous this whole evening has been? Can we start with the fact that we saw the Master Chief Sierra-117 get married? Okay, so there's that, then we saw his sister/squadmate wearing four inch stilettos while pregnant in perhaps the sexiest dress I have ever seen. I mean shit, she is hot. You can even agree and I won't be mad, I'll admit it and I'm not even into ladies," she said.

Tom couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm so serious right now, I didn't know being a supermodel was a thing for Spartan-IIs, she should reconsider the whole teacher thing, but that leads to my second point. Can we talk about how both of them are pregnant? I thought they were all a bunch of prudes when in fact they're sex fiends who don't know how to use birth control. I don't think you heard the things they were whispering to each other before they practically ran away to rip each others clothes off. Let me tell you, it was pretty entertaining, the Master Chief has got serious game. He must've been watching soap operas on his HUD during downtime or something. Either that or he and Cortana spent the entire Halo Campaign talking dirty to each other," she said wryly.

"That mouth of yours, when you're off duty I always remember that you were a Marine," he chuckled.

"Semper Fi, We are ODST, all of that. Gotta talk the talk."

He leaned in and kissed her softly.

"I'm ready to sleep, it's been a long day," she said when they broke apart. He nodded and turned off the lights, enjoying the feeling of sharing a real, large bed with her. She ran her feet on his legs under the blankets.

"Your feet are so cold," he commented. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him.

"You're so warm and cuddly," she teased, just to annoy him with her cold feet.

He couldn't help but laugh. He liked being able to relax with her. He loved working with her, she was an amazing, efficient, powerful leader. He also liked being able to see her with her hair down and out of her bio-suit.

Right before Sarah was about to fall asleep, he spoke up.

"Sarah?"

"Hmm?"

"Today made me think...maybe happy endings do happen," he spoke softly. He could never have foreseen an end to the fighting, the war, the daily grind that had been his entire life.

Sarah turned his face to her and she kissed him slowly.

"Don't be such a sissy," she whispered. She kissed him again. He knew that was her way of agreeing. She was too hard, too tough to talk about the happy ending she envisioned someday. Too dedicated, she was a Spartan, her definition of a happy ending could've been dying in the name of Earth. But still, he couldn't help but feel that for the first time in a long time they had tomorrow.

* * *

Real talk, I love Palmer and Lasky, I ship them so hard it's pathetic. There will be more of them much later in the story...Til next time!


	15. Chapter 15

Cortana pulled herself out of bed and grumpily grabbed herself a traveling mug of coffee.

"I will come back to you bed, we will be together forever," she groaned dramatically.

John sighed. He knew she wouldn't want to miss this but she was not a morning person.

She dragged her feet, following him downstairs to the outside pavilion where they were meeting Kelly.

John could see Kelly and Fred running in the distance, about a half mile away. He heard Kelly yell: "Bet you can't beat a pregnant lady a half mile," and she exploded into a full sprint, Fred trailing behind.

"If only I had half the energy she does," Cortana sighed as Kelly pulled to a stop on the beach.

"It's not fair when you give yourself a head start like that," Fred said, the most exasperated Cortana really ever saw him.

"You're just a sore loser," she took her bun down and shook her head. She started braiding it and looked to John. "When is our Sanghelli friend showing up?" she said the words rather sarcastically but not enough to sound completely irreverent.

As if on cue, the Elite appeared, his feet leaving odd prints in the sand.

He took out the handle of what Cortana knew to be an energy sword and unceremoniously tossed it at Kelly, she moved to catch it so quickly Cortana couldn't see her hand but for a blur.

She turned it on and it buzzed to life, but instead of blue it was purple.

"I have added a chip here," he pointed on the end of his own, "that makes it safe to train with."

At this point Tom and Sarah had wandered down to the pavillion.

"I can't believe we are going to see a pregnant woman battle an Elite with an energy sword, this has to be a first," Sarah said quietly.

"This is a big deal. The energy sword is not only the most sacred weapon of the Sanghelli but is only taught and learned by the aristocratic class of warriors-Elites who learn the sword may not marry but are encouraged to reproduce with any female they choose to pass on their 'sword genes,'" said Cortana smartly, "For him to even show Kelly anything would be considered rather heretical, but I don't really think he cares at this point considering he's already been branded in front of his people as such."

They walked over to stand by John and Cortana. Cortana looked very grumpy with the entire situation. She was very clearly not a morning person.

"Now, come at me and I will assess your technique," he said activating his own weapon.

Tom couldn't believe what he saw, or rather what he didn't see. Kelly moved so quickly that she was just a blur. Sarah had never seen someone move so quickly out of armor.

"Can you even make sense of those movements?" questioned Tom incredulously to Sarah.

"Yes," she said, "not extremely well but yeah."

"No one touches Kelly unless she wants them to, it doesn't matter if you can see her, you can't stop her," said John quietly.

"Seeing in Spartan time never really helped when we were young, it just made it so you could see her hit you even if you couldn't prevent it," agreed Fred.

"Spartan time?" questioned Sarah, feeling a little ignorant.

"My Spartans have reaction times faster than any other Spartan class, they can slow actions down or speed them up in their minds. As teenagers they dubbed this ability 'seeing in Spartan time,'" said Halsey as she sat down next to Cortana.

The Arbiter, with a growl had his sword pointed at Kelly's throat. She looked composed yet quite wrathful.

"Again," the Elite said lowly. She smirked.

The two combatants were nothing short of amazing. Kelly didn't even seem winded as she bent and twirled. In a split second she jumped high over the Elite's head, pushing off of his shoulder as she jumped. She twisted in the air and as she landed behind him swept the sword across his throat. The blade shut off.

The Arbiter took a step away from Kelly and looked at her. He bowed his head slightly in respect.

"You are assuredly the most capable human I have ever seen wield the most sacred weapon of my people, she-demon. Were you a Sanghelli you would be trained for greatness. As a human there are certain anatomical differences that make the traditional way of fighting impractical to you"

"John was right to say that you are the best of your people, I now understand why you have earned his respect," she moved to hand the weapon back to him.

"No, you may keep it as a gift. Perhaps we will be able to battle again and I would have more time to teach you, in the meantime you should practice," he said lowly, "I must depart, Spartan, I have a gift for you and your bride." He said the word bride awkwardly, his four jaws clicking together and overemphasizing the hard syllable. He handed John a pouch and gestured for him to look inside. He pulled out what appeared to be a very strange ball with a tiny loop. It was rather heavy for its size. It was a pearly white color and shined all different colors when it was in the light.

"That is for young ones, when it is shaken it creates a soothing sound so they will cease wailing, I give it to you in hopes that I shall never need it."

John shook it and he didn't hear anything. Cortana looked at the Sanghelli a little confusedly.

"You can only hear it if you heard it when you were little. I can still hear it because that one was mine."

Cortana was a little skeptical but she nodded. "Thank you very much for coming, Thel'Vadam. It has been an honor," she smiled.

He nodded a farewell to them and told Lasky that they would "Cross paths within the year." He took his leave.

"We have a gift," said Tom. They walked up the steps to a pavilion where breakfast had been laid out for them. Cortana immediately went to get herself some coffee.

Tom pulled out a chip and handed it to Cortana. "Hmm, what have we here," she asked, tapping the chip so the data would expand outward.

Cortana scanned the data and her eyes widened. "What is this?"

"The service record of Lieutenant Commander Cortana Halsey," he said, smiling brightly. Sarah loved how excited he got about these kind of things, he was just too damn nice.

"No way," she breathed. "John, look, it has everything, every mission, everything we did together, even our first training exercise. It says I graduated from MIT?"

"That's my gift," Halsey produced a frame that had a diploma that had her 'name' on it. "I showed them the work you've done on slipstream space, pulled some strings and made it look like you commissioned through the ROTC program."

"This is beyond words, Tom I have no idea how you arranged this, it means a lot," she said softly.

"You deserve the recognition for work you've done, most people realize that. It is to the advantage of the UNSC to have a cover story for you anyways, you know a lot of classified information, it's better to create an official story like this. I just helped facilitate it a little."

Sarah huffed, "A little, more like you spent weeks working on this, don't be so modest."

He smiled bashfully. "We also got you a boring gift, it's a set of glassware, it'll be at your house when you get back."

Cortana looked at the Commander before her. He was easily one of the nicest people she'd ever met. He'd treated her like a real person when she had been an AI, he had shown unwavering loyalty to the greater good. He was a good man.

"Sarah and I are probably going to head out, we've been cut orders to Earth and we have a lot of out-processing to do," he smiled.

_They must really moving up in rank and capability, Earth was a prestigious assignment for anyone,_ thought Cortana.

"Thank you so much for coming and for everything," she hugged him tightly and, rather surprisingly, hugged Sarah just as enthusiastically. It was kind of her to come so he hadn't felt awkward.

John stood and shook Tom's hand. "Best of luck to you both," he said calmly.

Sarah couldn't help but feel so small, so out of place next to the other Spartans. She walked to Fred and Kelly.

"Thank you both for your words yesterday evening and for your service to the UNSC. I hope that as a leader of the Spartans that we will not tarnish your legacy," she looked to John and he nodded. She very deliberately avoided Dr. Halsey, already knowing her opinion of her.

After they had left, Fred, Catherine and Kelly followed suit saying that they would see them when they returned from their trip.

John looked to Cortana. "What would you like to do?"

A calm quiet settled over them with their guests gone. They were alone and got to enjoy time together, it was how things were supposed to be as nice as friends could be.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Could we just lay on the beach in the sun all day?"

"If that's what you'd like."

They went up to their room and Cortana changed into her bathing suit. It was simple and black. The only thing she had been concerned with was the underwire support for her growing chest, she was tired of feeling like she was constantly spilling out of everything she wore. She had a pair of sunglasses that she considered rather stylish, though somewhat old fashioned. She packed a quick bag of lotions, water, a big blanket and towels.

John wore a sleeveless shirt with his swimsuit as they walked to the resort's beach. The sand was bright white and the water a deep blue. The sun shone brightly and Cortana sighed as she laid down their blanket.

She started putting lotion on herself so her skin wouldn't burn to a crisp.

"John, can you get my back?" she asked handing him the lotion. She sighed as he very deliberately massaged the lotion into her shoulders.

"That is just the best," she praised. "In fact, I can't believe how nice this is, warm sun, sandy beach," she stretched and closed her eyes. She listened to the waves rush up against the shore and found it so relaxing she fell asleep for a few hours.

While Cortana slept, he observed all of the people at the beach. There were families and other couples. He watched the families with small children, how they ran about and played without a care in the world. They were so small and so in need of protection. He watched as one tripped and fell in the sand and burst into tears, crying out for his mother. He didn't know how he was going to deal with needless tears and illogical demands. He tried to think of it simply as another mission but it was different somehow. He needed to take care of Cortana, make sure she was safe and happy. He knew how to do those things because he knew her better than he knew himself. How was he to do that for a tiny baby?

He saw Cortana stir. He got up and brought her back an icy drink he knew she enjoyed. She was squinting at the sun when he came back and sat down by her, adjusting to the sun still as he handed her the drink.

She sat up excitedly and he watched her lips as she sipped through the straw in her glass. He quickly diverted his attention to something more appropriate, like applying his sunscreen again.

"Do you want to go into the water? I want to sit on the shore by the waves," she smiled. She got up and walked towards where the waves lapped at the shore and sat, shivering slightly when the water came and covered up to her belly button. He sat down beside her.

She leaned into him and he wrapped an arm around her. She took the sand and rubbed it down her legs and let the water wash it away, enjoying the feeling of the rough sand on her skin.

Later in the evening they ate dinner at a patio right on the beach. It was beautiful. Cortana could feel the salt on her skin, she loved the different food and how it tasted of charcoal and fruit. She loved icy drinks and watching the sun set over the vast, deep, blue ocean.

"I never thought I could enjoy traveling this much, this is amazing," she smiled and twisted her wedding band, a new habit she was already forming.

John found that he very much enjoyed wine with his evening meal. It didn't have the dizzying effect that many drugs had but it was extremely calming and enhanced flavors in his meal.

"I've been a lot of places, this is the first time I've enjoyed somewhere particular this much." One thing the resort staff did very well was be extremely hands off. They left them to their own devices unless they very clearly needed something.

They walked up to their room and Cortana immediately started filling the large whirlpool tub in their room. She was obsessed. She poured the complimentary salts and fragrances into the water, smiling as it started to foam slightly, not really caring that John probably didn't want to smell like a flower. She ran a hand through her hair and took off her bathing suit. She walked towards the tub and stepped in with a sigh.

John pressed a button that made the entire wall appear to be glass looking outside. This was his favorite feature of the room. He loved natural light and the comfort it provided him, particularly moonlight.

He took off his shorts and stepped into the water. They didn't have the water too hot because Cortana wanted to err on the side of caution. John had to admit, the powerful jets made his legs feel better than they had in a long time. He had had almost no lingering side effects from the augmentation procedures and even some of the discomfort he experienced in his eyes had disappeared after his encounter with the Librarian. His knees did, however ache at time, more than likely from overuse or an ACL torn one too many times and his Achilles tendon he had torn sometimes tensed up. He probably could have gotten treatment-flash-cloning a ligament and transplanting it was extremely basic, but it was very mild and he'd never had the time for a procedure, even if it only took a few hours. Hours had once been precious and meant the difference between victory and defeat. The injury had worsened slightly as he had aged. It was entirely manageable but felt nice to have some of the discomfort relieved.

"How does that feel for your knees?" she questioned.

"It doesn't bother me enough for it to really register," he deflected despite the fact that he had just been thinking about how comforting it was.

"I'll take that as they feel better. We should really get a bath tub."

"I've been thinking," he said.

"Uh-oh," she mocked. He continued without missing a beat.

"We should add on, our house is too small for us and a baby. We should make you an office above my shop equipped with the specifications you decide upon so you could do whatever you find fulfilling," he said seriously.

She smiled. It seemed such a silly thing to say but she was grateful that he pushed her needs to the forefront of his mind-he knew that she would never bring something like that to his attention because she would consider it an inconvenience. It was a terrible habit that John found perplexing, how she often refused to ask for things she needed unless he prodded.

"I've thought about room for the baby in passing but I don't have any real ideas, what were you thinking?"

"Initially I thought that we should knock down the living room wall and add another room but then I thought that we could build upwards instead-I could add a small spiraling staircase to the living room that went directly up to a room, give her her own space to play and a bathroom."

Cortana was a little surprised. She would've predicted that John wouldn't have seen the point in giving a child so much space.

"I agree, it'll give her room to grow so she'll have a place to study when she's older, a place to keep to herself if she wants."

John crossed his arms and looked very stern. "If we have the room upstairs it will be very easy for me to hear any intruders during the day and night-it would be impossible for anyone to sneak in on the lower level and I'd be able to hear if something was upstairs as well. It would be a logistical nightmare for someone to intrude without my knowing it."

Cortana frowned slightly. "John, I don't think anyone is going to try and take her," she said softly. "The UNSC-"

"It's not the UNSC I'm concerned about. There are people who would more than likely be happy to hurt myself or you. There are risks to the choices we have made. I don't know if it will ever become public knowledge who I am," who he is, the Master Chief Spartan-117, "but it has been impossible to hide that I am a Spartan. When she is school age things will come to the surface. The more she is like me the worse it will probably be, the more attention she's going to draw. It would be foolish to not take precaution."

Cortana sighed. She had sensed John's increasing sense of paranoia as her pregnancy progressed and knew that it was going to escalate when the baby was actually here. She smiled sadly and moved over by him, tucking herself under his arm.

"You shouldn't worry about being a good Father," she said quietly.

"Who said I was worried," he replied evenly.

"I know you, I can tell."

He couldn't argue. He was apprehensive. The baby wasn't this abstract concept anymore, she very much existed. She was going to come whether he was ready or not, there was no point in worrying incessantly about it but he couldn't help but feel this looming feeling. He had felt it after Reach, he had felt it after the Flood, he had felt it on Requiem, it was an indescribable feeling, all he knew was his world was going to be turned completely upside-down. Everything was going to change. It was easy to oversimplify; to say that she would just be one person, how could she change everything, but Cortana was one person and she had changed everything. To throw a new variable into that was difficult to imagine.

She watched him think, watched him get wrapped up in his own head. This wasn't going to fix itself, it wasn't going to settle into place until he was actually facing what he perceived to be the problem. Cortana sighed, knowing there were no words she could comfort him with. Perhaps it was just best to try and ignore it all together.

When she straddled him and kissed him deeply, they both knew that was the road they were taking. Worry about it when it when the problem presented itself. He almost always sorted out his feelings with physical distraction. It wasn't in Cortana's nature to put off worrying but it was what worked for him.

He loved the way she kissed him.

Objectively it seemed like a pointless, unpleasing action. He was sure that there was science that reaffirmed why kissing was important or why it felt good, but he personally never would have been able to wrap his mind around it or expect his response. He hardly cared why it felt good, he simply knew it did.

She smiled into their kiss as he lifted her out of the water and in two short steps sat down on the bed tracking water along with them.

He loved the feel of her lips against his. Little details, like how she'd worry his bottom lip with her teeth or grip his shoulders tightly drove him to a very specific, somewhat frenzied state. But more than the details of how she kissed him, he loved her honesty. There was honesty in her physicality. He could tell right now she was trying to distract him, trying to make him stop thinking so much. Right now, he felt okay with that. She would run her hands over parts of him as if she was still curious about what he felt like, as if she expected him to somehow change each time.

Everything still seemed so new to him even though they had been doing this for over a year. He couldn't help run his hands all over her because he was realizing he didn't really know how she felt anymore. Everything was changing, her stomach, her hips, her breasts, everything was fuller and somehow even more feminine. He pulled her hips towards him, grabbing her a little more roughly than he intended and she gasped at how sudden it was. She didn't move right away, she just ran her hands over his chest and his arm he had wrapped around her. She kissed where his jaw met his neck and he found himself squeezing her closer to him. She started to move against him and he felt somewhat dazed. As her movements became more urgent, he felt the slightest twinge of sadness at her desperation-she pressed herself against him as if in doing so she could just disappear within him.

Sometimes he wanted to disappear in her, to have everything be easy again. For being a Spartan and an AI, their relationship had been very simple, defined in part by the fact that they had known each other entirely and trusted the other entirely. This, sex, was the closest they got to that former intimacy, the intimacy of existing in someone else's mind. Truly it had been her with him but he had known her two, he had known what she had felt like, known what it was like to hear her voice in his head and have no one else know...it had been a closeness that was completely indescribable and was impossible to replicate. He found himself missing it at times. Some days it felt like a wide, gaping chasm and other days they felt closer than ever before. It was difficult to place, difficult to explain and difficult to understand.

Her thighs were starting to shake in exertion and he could tell she was getting frustrated. As quickly as was sensible he pushed her so she was on her back which was becoming more difficult because of her growing abdomen. She wrapped her legs around him and thrust upwards to meet him, her breath was high and pitchy, she grasped at the sheets until her knuckles were white, the visual enough for him to collapse onto the sheets with a low, throaty sigh.

If John had had to compare it to a feeling, he would've compared it to falling. There was this feeling of completely losing all of his control, all of his inhibitions that he'd never had before. It was so uncomfortable but so natural.

She started to laugh lowly. He had no idea what she could've possibly been laughing at.

"I'm sorry, everything just kind of tickles afterwards," she ran her hand lightly over her stomach. "baby kicks a lot afterwards," she said softly. She reached over and grabbed his hand, running her hands over the calluses he'd had from holding various weapons.

She got up quickly thereafter and put on a nightgown. He wished that she hadn't, but he'd noticed subtle hints that she was starting to get uncomfortable about how she looked. This was something he didn't really understand-her body was serving a purpose, it was a function of the female anatomy, to produce and carry children. She should be glad that she was capable of performing such a duty and satisfied that she and their daughter were healthy. Instead she would almost immediately clothe herself after sex whereas she used to enjoy lying naked with him for a while or even the whole night. They had had sex less in the course of her being pregnant. Of course he understood, she had been absolutely nauseated for a solid two months but he found himself being turned away by her on a regular basis. He felt badly if it was because she didn't like her appearance, she was beautiful.

"You don't need to cover yourself," he said quietly as she sat one the edge of the bed.

"I just want to be dressed," she said, clearly a little on edge.

"You normally hate to get up after sex, you complain about getting up and brushing your teeth," he replied.

She wrung her hands. _Damn him and how observant he can be._ She sighed and looked down. She didn't know what to say. She felt badly. She should be grateful that she even had a body, but the angry red marks that had started to take over her abdomen and even creep up her calves and hips made her feel conscious of her appearance. She knew that gaining weight was normal and healthy and that she should be viewing herself more positively but she couldn't help but feel huge and fat. It was hard when even though he was scarred he had a figure that looked like it was carved out of marble. She knew she couldn't compare herself to him, it was silly, his body was hand crafted to be a prime physical specimen, she could never even think of living up to that nor did she really want to-exercising was not something she thoroughly enjoyed but did to make sure she stayed healthy. She knew he still found her attractive but there was a constant, nagging in her head that questioned this. Despite all of her logic, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed about how she looked.

He didn't say anything about it when he got up and put on some sleeping shorts. He looked at her and how oddly ashamed she looked. He sat on the bed next to her and held her hand in his.

"Why hide yourself from me?" He felt that being direct was the best course of action.

"I feel ugly," she blurted out. She'd never really put such a sweeping label on her feelings of insecurity.

He shook his head. He was amazed.

"You aren't, your body is all the more beautiful for its ability to take care of our daughter." This was something she had thought and even tried to tell herself but it didn't help. He noticed that she didn't seem to feel much better.

"Even if you were ugly, which you never have been, I loved you before you even _had_ a body. What makes you think that I even care in the slightest what you look like?"

She had never thought of it that way. He _had_ loved her, even as an AI when she couldn't touch or feel him. It was somehow comforting to think about. She smiled softly and leaned on his shoulder.

"Thank you for telling me that," she said.

He sighed. "You amaze me. You're the most brilliant person I've ever known yet some things evade you. You very clearly don't understand the things I find attractive about you," he turned down the blankets and they got into bed. Now she was curious.

"What are you talking about?"

"I _like_ your bigger hips and legs, you feel soft," he responded simply.

"So you don't look at the marks?" she said, slightly astounded.

"What marks?"

She was amazed and a little offended. How could he be so unobservant about how their daughter was very clearly stretching her body apart? She started laughing.

"These big angry red things all over my boobs, stomach and hips?" she said astounded.

"I feel indifferent towards them. I have marks like that on my back from my growth spurt, they're all faded now, I don't understand why they're of any notice to you."

She was silent. She'd never even thought about it, but he did have faded stretch marks all over his body, it was just hardly of any notice among his scars and dense muscles. She felt a little better.

"Even though I have been inside that thick head of yours I'm never gonna know how it _really_ works, you always manage to surprise me," was all she could say.

She snuggled against him and fell asleep rather quickly for her. He sighed. He was glad that he had made her feel better but he was still worried. Normally he wasn't one to worry. He almost always focused on the present. This child had already changed all of that. He stayed up a good part of the night simply worrying until he was finally able to fall asleep.

When he woke up that morning, the sun was shining brightly in their room. He normally didn't sleep this late, but normally he didn't stay up worrying about things out of his control. Cortana was snoring softly next to him, a characteristic that she vehemently would deny if he brought it up. It made him smile.

He normally got out of bed right away. Instead he decided to simply watch her sleep. He had never done this before but very quickly he found himself fixated upon her.

He had never thought about "beauty" or if something really had aesthetic value, most things and people were the same to him. If they served their purpose, they were good in his books. Cortana, however, could only be what would classically be defined as "beautiful." Surely her body functioned properly and there was inherent value in that, but he thought about how needlessly beautiful she was outside of that. He still couldn't believe the insecurities she had expressed last night.

He liked her short, dark hair. He liked how her pale skin was a little burnt today, her freckles on her nose darker than they normally were. She had soft dark eyelashes, when her eyes were closed they would rest slightly on the very tops of her cheeks. He was able to count every individual eyelash, one hundred and forty-five on her left and one hundred and fifty-two on her right. She slept with the smallest of smiles on her face and he couldn't help but find it endearing. He loved her lips, how they always had the slightest pout and were a perfect shade of pink.

He continued to watch her until she stretched and sat up sleepily about an hour later. She looked over at him and jumped a little bit.

"You startled me, I'm not used to you being here when I wake up," she said, her hand on her heart. She rearranged the pillows so they were propped up against the wall and she leaned against them.

"I figured staying in bed was a part of the whole honeymooning thing." He also didn't like the attention he'd get if he were to go outside running. He got up and went to go order coffee and breakfast. Very quickly after he had pressed a button he opened a door in the wall of their room and saw a tray of warm breakfast. He brought it to her and she smiled sleepily. She took forever to really wake up and failed to be really alert unless she had had coffee.

"Mm, thank you," she said sipping the warm coffee, almost instantly perking up a little. After they picked at breakfast neither of them really made to move. Cortana looked over at him, still dressed in his sleeping shorts and an undershirt.

Oddly enough, they spent the rest of the day similarly, staying in bed, relaxing and talking. It reminded Cortana of when they had been reunited. After he had gotten over his disbelief, they had sat together for what must surely have been a full day, at times speaking and at other times just being silent. It was all he could have asked for, being there with her, seeing her smile and hearing her voice was soothing for him. It was a perfect day.

* * *

Oh I'm sorry, have you all died of fluff and gone into cardiac arrest? Well I won't expect reviews then... :P :P

I'm mega busy right now applying for jobs and whatnot so that's why this chapter took longer than normal. I've also kinda hit a wall with the story like, over 9000 chapters ahead. Luckily I've given myself plenty of time to find inspiration again because I seriously have a crap ton of this story written...It's a little shameful. I'm in my last term of senior year so bear with me, I have a lot of 'actual reading' I should be doing...(whatever...). Have a great day!


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